The Woman in the Brig
by laurastalkingsurf
Summary: With only an inscribed Earth Kingdom dagger to her name, Wen sets off for Republic City to discover the identity of her parents. Not only does she find the ragged remains of her family, but also a metropolis under siege by The Traders. Will Wen be able save her family and Republic City before it's too late? Sequel to The Woman in the Woods. Mature content. Complete.
1. Your Queen

The door was immaculate: bright red paint, golden trim, ornate, symbolic patterns etched deep and perfect into the woodwork. Katil let her thin fingers graze over the surface, slowly pressing her withered palm flat against the cold. Behind this door...behind this door...no, it couldn't be real. It had been over two decades since that time. Maybe it had all been a dream. Maybe if she just closed her eyes-just for a moment-she would open them and be back in her tiny cottage far, far away from here. Instead, her eyes started to sting. No-no not here. Not now. She clenched her hand into a fist, and slammed it against the door...

"My name is Kazue, and I have come to be your queen."


	2. A Stowaway

"Ha-a stowaway? On MY ship? PRICELESS! Absolutely priceless!" The young captain howled, pushing his long, ornate braids from his sharp, wind-withered face. A young woman struggled against thick ropes as two men kept firm hands on both of her shoulders. A gag tied around her mouth kept her silent, but her piercing, golden eyes screamed plenty obscenities. The man suddenly whipped around and grabbed a chunk of her black hair at the base of her neck, wrenching her head back with an eerie _snap_. "What are you...Earth Kingdom trash? Probably some no good whore who couldn't even fuck her way onto a ferry...pathetic." Beady blue eyes glowing, he spat on her face and threw her head down into her lap. "Take her to the brig." He snapped. The two guards slipped their meaty hands under her bound arms and hefted her petite frame into the air. "Oh, and," the captain added with a sneer, "let me know if she's as bad of a fuck as it seems."

The girl's eyes popped open and she began to thrash, screaming and gnashing at her gag-then, something struck her on the back of the head, and everything went dark.

When she woke up, she was laying on a musky cot in a dank, rocking cell, water dripping steadily onto her forehead. She was unbound, ungagged, and thankfully still clothed-she lifted a heavy sigh of relief, twisting her silky black hair around her finger and pulling it over her head. "I knew that apple crate was a stupid place to hide-what's the one food sailor's hate? Apples! Dumb! Sailors eat everything-_especially_ apples! Ugh-dumb, dumb, dumb!" She muttered in her high, breathy voice, covering her eyes tight with her forearms. That was when the door to her cell squeaked open.

She lifted one of her arms. It was one of the guard-sailors from earlier. The one who knocked her out, she presumed. "What do you want?" She snapped, rolling away from him onto her side. He was a tall, thick built Water Tribe man with the characteristic dark skin, high, deep cheeks, and sharp pale blue eyes. His matted brown hair hung in thick, twisted dreds, and his tattered, sleeveless robe revealed muscular, tattooed arms marred by a few thick, blade-made scars. "I said, what do you want?" The woman spat, rolling over just enough to glare at the man. He reached behind his back and withdrew a short, sheathed dagger. "That's..." He tossed the dagger onto her lap.

"Never give up without a fight,"

She looked at him with wide, golden eyes, "Wh...?"

"That's the inscription, right?" He answered in his dark, hoarse voice, "Never give up without a fight."

The woman smiled, pressing the dagger firmly to her thighs, "That's right."

The man turned away from her and started to exit, but, suddenly feeling her hand on his arm,he stopped, "What's your name?"

"...Nanuk," he answered, turning back,

"I'm Wen!" She hurriedly added, grabbing his bicep with both hands and lightly dragging him back.

"You're also too trusting," he said, shrugging her off.

She chuckled, "You haven't raped me yet,"

"Don't joke about that."

"Why not?"

His thick eyebrows furrowed in a look of total disbelief, "I'm not having this conversation right now,"

"Yes you are!"

"You're a child."

"Well you're a-"

"NANUK! THE CAPTAIN WANTS YOU ON DECK!"

Nanuk sighed, dragging his rough, calloused hand over his face. "Look what you did-you got me in trouble."

"I didn't ask you to come down here!" Wen snipped, turning up her pointed nose.

He rolled his eyes and left the cell, closing the door behind him. Wen rolled her eyes right back and sat down on her bunk, rubbing her sore wrists. "Oh, and Wen," she looked up. In the shadows, she could make out Nanuk's dark lips in the flood slot, "We'll make land before the sun sets," Wen heard a dull thud and a snap before the light thunks of his heels climbing back up to deck.

Wen literally rolled off of the cot and onto the floor before scrambling up onto her hands and knee and crawling to the door. Through the food slot she could see a turned over, cracked, barrell full of gunpowder. Looking behind her through a tiny window in the wall she could see the sun maybe an hour over the horizon. She frowned and huffed, swiveling her legs to sit on her heels. In a small pool of water she could see her face: fair, but tanned skin, sharp cheekbones, and pointed, golden eyes. Her light pink lips were full and slightly pouty and her cheeks hued a constant rose. Her dark black hair was straight as an arrow, choppy, and long and it hung beside her face like dampened drapes. She was a relatively thin girl with modest curves and wiry limbs. She was tall though-taller than most-and it gave her an odd, spindly walk that she had been trying to correct since the day she realized how odd it was. Dressed in some ratty Earth Kingdom peasants wear she, as the captain had so keenly perceived, by all conventions looked to be a run-of-the-mill Ba Sing Se street rat. Her one possession was Earth Kingdom, in fact-the pearl dagger her original caretakers had found swaddled with her in a wool cloth. If her parents had been anyone else, she guessed, they would've stolen it and left her to die-probably hocked it to pay some debts. No, Wen got to keep her mother's dagger, she presumed. Why the old man saw the dagger and thought her mother-or, a lead, at least-would be in Republic City of all places she had no idea.

"Thanks a lot, old man," Wen huffed quietly, tucking the dagger under her robes, "I don't have money for a ferry-oh, just stow away on one of those ships, you'll be fine! Oh, yeah, I'm _just_ fine! Kooky old man...probably senile-dumb! Dumb dumb dumb!" She held her face in her hands, then peeked back up at the window, "WHY WON'T YOU SET-?!"

"_QUIET!_"

Wen folded her arms and slouched back against the door. How fast does a boat go anyways? Probably could swim as fast as any dumb boat. Probably be faster than any dumb boat. Yeah... Wen peeked back through the food slot at the broken barrel of gunpowder. She readjusted the dagger in her belt, and then breathed deep. When she exhaled, tiny sparks floated from her lips and drifted towards the spilled powder. Hurriedly she jumped back and covered her face. …

Frowning, she got back up and peeked out of the food slot. "Stinking powder-don't even work!"

"_I SAID QUIET DOWN THERE YOU LITTLE, PUNK!_" Heavy footsteps were pounding down the stairs-Wen leaned back with one deep inhale and spat out a fist-size ball of fire-

"What are you-_AAAURRGHH_!" The blast knocked the metal door right off of its hinges and onto Wen-the hull of the ship must have been ruptured because she could feel water rushing in under her. She kicked the door away and ran to the rickety staircase, tripping over the dead, pretty much unrecognizable body of the dead sailor. "Ooh-sorry, buddy," Wen muttered, grabbing onto the railing with all of her might as the ship violently rocked from side to side. Another sailor flew into the entranceway of the stairwell,

"The hell is going ooOHN-!" He yelled as Wen punched a feeble bit of fire near his face and then just threw him down the stairs via collar. She made a leap for the landing as the fire from the explosion started to climb the walls of the ship. Quickly, he got onto her feet, shut the door, and turned around.

There were naked women everywhere. Tied up, trussed up-some were awake and feebly struggling, some were sick, some were starving, and others were just unconscious...or...

"The fuck are you standing around for?!"

"Nanuk!"

He grabbed her by the arm, froze over the door, and, pulling water out of the walls, shot them around the corner and up another flight of stairs-

"Bust down the door!"

"_What?!_"

The pair went barreling through a rotten wood panel and rolled like a couple of hippo sloths on deck where twenty angry sailors and one particularly miffed captain waited with baited breath.

Nanuk wrenched Wen onto her feet as the horde approached, "Sunset-_sunset_-I made it _very clear_ to _wait until sunset_ and you couldn't do that _one thing_-!"

"You try waiting in a damp cell for a bunch of _dirty, fat_ dudes to _gangbang_ you-"

"No one was gonna do that!"

"Are you saying I'm ugly?"

"_What?!_"

"Well, isn't this a surprise," the captain began, stepping through the crowd, "I thought you, Nanuk, would be the last to mutiny. Shows I was wrong." A deckhand stepped forward, holding out a sword with the captain slowly unsheathed.

"I got the left, you got the right?" Wen asked excitedly, bouncing on the balls of her feet. Nanuk rolled his eyes.

"Sorry, captain, but we're not waiting around to see how this ends." He grabbed Wen at the waist and flipped backwards over the edge of the ship and into the water twenty feet below. They sunk for a few yards before he waved his arm and propelled them through the water. When they were a safe distance away, he brought them both up for air.

"CAN'T SWIM CAN'T SWIM CAN'T SWIM-"

"I'm _holding_ you-"

"YOU'RE _NUTS_!" She shoved him off her. Nanuk turned back towards the ship and watched it with solemn eyes as, with a final explosion, it sank to the bottom of the sea.

"I was on that boat for almost nine years-"

"DROWNING-BLRRRG DRO-I'M DROWN-BLRRGGGG!" Nanuk sighed and rose her up on a comfortable sheet of ice. "Took you long enough!"

"You know, you complain a lot for someone who just got rescued." He climbed up onto the ice sheet with her and started transforming it into a makeshift boat.

"Please-I'm the one who did all of the work!"

He cocked an eyebrow. "You started a fire. Way to go."

"And if I hadn't we wouldn't be here!"

"That's right, if I hadn't tipped over that barrel you'd be dead in a few hours and I'd be a good two hundred gold pieces richer, not chauffeuring for a bratty little mutt like you."

"...Hmph." Nanuk stretched out his arms and started swinging. The boat took off so fast that Wen nearly flew out of the back.

Well, one thing was for sure, it took a hell of a whole lot less than an hour to make to to shore. Nanuk slowed down as they entered the harbor. Wen was dumbfounded-ships the size of three stacked houses flanked them on either side and seemed to go on for miles. Beyond them was a city vast which, in the fading light suddenly came alive. She had always heard of electricity, but never could envision the concept. These bright lights-this was Republic City.

They pulled up to a bank at the inlet of the harbor. Nanuk jumped out and bent the ice boat to shore, letting Wen step out before giving it back to the sea. "So now what?"

Wen flipped her hair. "Excuse me?"

"Where to next?"

"Oh, so now you want to go with the mutt!"

"Might as well. Besides, you'll need some money," he pulled a fat purse out of his robe and opened it for her. There were _at least_ two thousand gold pieces in there-

"Wha-put that away! Are you _trying_ to get mugged?!"

"So you're not totally devoid of intelligence."

"Shut up," She stuck her tongue out at him. "Well, moneybags, where can a girl get some food around here?"

The first stop was a noodle shop not too far from the harbor. Nanuk ate an apple while Wen bitterly stuffed her face. Then, Nanuk scored a pretty good deal on a decent apartment near the stadium-it was loud, crime was pretty awful, but it was roomy and furnished.

Nanuk twisted his dreds into a tight bun and washed his face vigorously in the sink as if no amount of soap could ever get the salt out of his pores.

"Can I ask you a question, Nanuk?" Wen asked, collapsing on the bed.

"Yes, you can take the bed-"

"No, not that. But yes, also...I wasn't going to ask, I was just gonna-"

"Get on with it." He sighed with a tiny smile, turning around and leaning against the counter.

"Why did you save me?"

"That's a dumb question."

"How is that _dumb_?"

"They were going to kill you."

"Yeah but you said you'd been on that ship for nine years-they must've captured and killed at least five other dopes before me. So why me?"

Nanuk walked across the room to the lamp hanging from the ceiling and blew it out, "Who knows."

In the darkness, Wen frowned but shrugged and rolled onto her side, resting her head on top of her hands. She listened quietly as Nanuk laid down on the ground next to her, the wooden planks groaning under his weight. "Do you have a pillow?"

"Yeah,"

"A blanket?"

"I'm fine, Wen."

She sighed and turned her back to him. Dumb...dumbdumbdumbdumb... "Thanks."

"What?"

"I said, goodnight."

"...okay."

The next morning Wen woke up to an empty apartment. She bathed, washed her face, tidied up a bit and still had an hour or so to kill before Nanuk stuck his ugly mug back in the door. "I thought you'd sleep 'till midday."

"Well, you were wrong!"

"Got you some breakfast. And some new clothes. Hope they fit." He said, tossing her a bread roll and a loosely wrapped parcel.

"Oh, thanks."

"And a bag," he added. "So you can stop looking like you have a rectangle growing out of your hip."

She rolled her eyes and dug in.

"So what's the plan?" Nanuk asked. Swallowing the lump of bread in her throat, she answered,

"We're gonna find out who made _this_!" She pulled the dagger out of her robes with a proud flourish.

"You stowed away on a boat and almost got killed to find out who made your family heirloom?"

"I don't even know if it _is_ a family heirloom!"

"Spirits. You're clinically insane." he sighed, pushing the dreds out of his face with an exasperated sigh, "That's an old-style _Earth Kingdom dagger_-why in the world are you looking in Republic City for the maker of an _old-style Earth Kingdom dagger_-why aren't you looking in the _Earth Kingdom_?!"

"Because the old man who runs this really good tea shop in Ba Sing Se told me I should start here!"

"Oh, yeah, a random old man tells you to do something so you just do it. Makes total sense!"

"Whatever, Nanuk." She huffed, swallowing the last of her roll. She went to the back and quickly got dressed. Earth Kingdom style clothing-a nice blouse and some silk pants. Jerk. "Are you comin or not?" She asked, heading straight for the door. He just shook his head and followed right behind her.

They headed straight for the market and, just like Wen said they would, they visited every single blacksmith.

"Do you recognize this dagger?" Wen would ask. Most of the time the shop owners would spit back, "NO! Now are ya buying somethin' or not?" before shooing them off. Sometimes they would would just give a polite shake of the head, and other times they might contemplate for a moment, but come up with nothing. It was mid afternoon by the time they reached the last blacksmith in the market. A tall, wiry man was cleaning his wooden counter when Wen and Nanuk arrived.

"Hi, there!" Wen greeted cheerfully, undaunted by the so far fruitlessness of the day, "Mind if I ask you a quick question?" The man said nothing. He had a long face with dark, sad eyes, a stringy, salt and pepper moustache and wore a comically large rice paddy hat. "Do you recognize this dagger?" Wen asked, brandishing the knife inscription up. His eyes opened slowly. He held up a hand for her to wait, then turned and walked back into the shop. A garrish woman with sharp eyes and devilish makeup, flanked by a set of terrified looking twins, appeared in his wake.

"What do you want?" She asked in a sharp, hoarse tone. If it hadn't been for the twins Wen might have thought her to be a guy what with the short hair cut and nearly flat chest. Otherwise she was...sort of pretty?

"I was just wondering if you recognize this dagger?" Wen asked, holding it up for her to see. The woman snatched it out of her hand for a closer look, and then started to laugh.

"HA-'if I recognize this dagger'? HELL yeah I recognize this dagger!" Her two daughters flinched. "What do you want to know?"

"Well, I was-"

The woman held out an expected hand. Nanuk scowled at her and tossed a silver piece into her palm.

"I was wondering..." Wen continued, "If you knew who this was made for."

The woman shook her head, "If you knew how many times I heard _that_ story."

"Sorry?"

"That dagger was commissioned nearly thirty years ago in Ba Sing Se by the Dragon of the West."

"The who?"

"You don't get around much, do you?"

Wen shrugged.

"How about a quick history lesson. The Fire Nation tried twice to take the city of Ba Sing Se during the one hundred years war. The first time, the Dragon of the West got through the wall, but was unable to seal the deal. During the siege, though, he had this dagger made as a gift for his nephew."

"His nephew?"

The woman flashed a toothy, devilish grin. "Fire Lord Zuko,"


	3. The Traders

At the entrance of Central City Station, Wen craned her tiny neck to stare into the immense, stoic face of Fire Lord Zuko.

"...that's my dad."

"You have absolutely no proof,"

"This was his dagger..."

"According to a blacksmith's wife,"

"And he gave it to me..."

"Again, no proof whatsoever."

Wen turned around, dagger clenched tight in her hands, "Nanuk-I have to talk to him-I have to go see the Fire Lord!" She exclaimed.

"Oh, no. Oh, no, no, no, there is _no_ way that'll ever happen."

"What do you mean?" She pouted.

"There is absolutely _no way_-_no. way._-that you are going to drag me all the way to the _Fire Nation _just to get stopped at the door."

She held up the knife, "But-"

"The dagger is not enough." He reminded, snatching it out of her hand, "There are about a million different ways that dagger could have gotten from him to you, and nine hundred ninety nine thousand nine hundred and ninety nine of them are exponentially more likely to have happened than your little fantasy-"

"It's not a fantasy!" Wen snipped, taking the dagger back and holding it to her chest, "It's real-I know it! And no matter what you say, I'm going to go talk to him-"

"No you are not-!"

"Yes I am!"

"Urrgh!" Nanuk grunted, burying his face in his hands. Wen watched him with her hands on her hips. "Fine!" He suddenly shouted, "But we can't just show up-there's no way they'd let a couple of peasants see the Fire Lord unannounced." He grabbed her by the arm and dragged her furiously past the statue and through the turnstiles to the train station.

"Where are we going?!"

"To Air Temple Island, now hurry up!" Nanuk lead her over to a ticket counter, bought two, and then pushed her down the stairs and onto the next train. It was an unexpectantly full, rickety old thing. Wen looked out of the window. Earth benders were positioned on either side every thirty yards or so. They both plopped down into hard wooden seats, and Nanuk's face when straight back into his hands. "I can't believe this is happening..."

"What's happening?" Wen asked in that innocent tone that just made Nanuk's teeth grind.

"You do realize who lives on_ Air Temple_ Island, right?"

She just kind of...stared at him. A few official looking water benders entered their car, and the train took off at a slow, uneasy rate.

"Oh, boy..." he sat up, "how old are you?"

"Twenty-two,"

"You're sure you're not...twelve?"

She stuck out her tongue.

"...so jury's still out on that one."

"Hmph!"

"Anyways," he began, his icy blue eyes giving her a pointed look, "the _Avatar_ lives on Air Temple Island."

She whipped around so fast it was like a blur, "You mean-?"

"Yeah."

"And that's who we're going to see?"

"Yep. Well, him and his wife."

"She's the healer, right?"

He cocked his eyebrow, then nodded.

"You think they'll...?"

"If anyone knows anything about the Fire Lord, it'll be those two."

Wen nodded, a suddenly determined look on her face. Her tiny hands were balled into fists on her lap. Nanuk picked his hand up off of his lap for a moment, put it back, then slowly sort of...placed it over one of her hands.

"...you okAY? Hrrm..." he asked awkwardly, his voice snapping and dissolving into a disappoiting grunt.

"Uh...yeah, fine...you're being weird."

"Uh-sorry..." he pulled his hand away and kind of...tucked it under his arm. "So...you don't know who your parents are...did you live with some people in the Earth Kingdom...?"

Wen smirked, "Someone's nosy all of the sudden!"

"You just seem to know so little about recent history-it's-it's _baffling_!"

"Oh _excuse me_ for being homeless!"

"So you didn't live with anyone."

"Of course I did-how many new born babies do you know that can feed themselves? Let alone wipe their own _butts_-"

"How about you stop being so loud-"

"How about you stop being so dumb?"

Nanuk leaned back, laying his arm over the back of their two seats, lips pursed, eyes searching.

"What?"

"You never went to school."

"I-I went to school!"

"What's one plus one?"

"Don't insult me."

"What's seven times eight?"

She froze. "It's...that's...!"

"Oh Spirits." She was literally counting on her fingers. "You're twenty-two and you can't do simple multiplication. You trust random strangers, you tried to stow away on a ship by hiding in an apple crate, you've never heard of the Dragon of the West _or_ Air Temple Island, you can't do _simple multiplication_-"

"Okay, I get it, are you happy, Nanuk?"

"What? Are you going to cry? I'm just saying-"

She looked away from him. Her shoulders started to tremble.

"-Wen, I'm just saying maybe you should take this parent search a little slower and...you know, start a real life for yourself. Get an education, get a job-"

"Why do you think I'm looking for my parents?" she asked suddenly, whipping back around.

"I...I don't understand."

"_Train coming to a stop. Train coming to a stop. Next stop: Air Temple Island. Next stop: Air Temple Island._" The train, as promised, came to a shaky stop. Wen got up and vaulted over Nanuk's legs, wiping her face as she stomped out of the train. Nanuk sighed, grabbed both of their bags and followed her out.

"Wen-Wen!" Nanuk called, running after her as she took a left down a flight of stairs. He grabbed her arm and turned her around, "you're going the wrong way-"

"I know that!" She spat, shaking him off.

"So when are you going to start acting like an adult? Before we speak to the Avatar, or after?"

"When are you going to stop acting like a huge jerk?"

Nanuk jumped in front of her, "I'm just _suggesting_ that you take a look at your priorities-"

"Oh, says the pirate."

"Sailor,"

"Sailors don't make that kind of money,"

Nanuk stammered for a moment, then stuffed his hands in his pockets and looked away.

"See? I AM smart!" She jeered, flipping her hair and walking off.

"Still going the wrong way."

"Shut up!"

Air Temple Island was...beautiful. It was green, white, vibrant, but most of all _peaceful_. The buildings were ornate and traditional: clean, white walls, bright blue, sloping roofs. Air bison circled a tall, tall tower that stood at the northernmost cliff whose drop must have been at least four hundred feet. Air nomads meandered about, chatting, laughing, and there was a soft, flowery fragrance in the air.

"This way," Nanuk said quietly, easing her towards the tall tower with a gentle push. She gave him a suspicious glance but went along with it. He lead her past the tall tower, past a beautiful rock garden, and past another set of perfect white buildings down a steep path to a small, calm lagoon sheltered by tall, full trees of all shades. By the shore was a young girl-probably only two or three-jumping in and out of the water with her mother, a tall, slightly pregnant woman with dark skin and long, wavy brunette hair. It looked like she was trying to teach her daughter how to bend, if only a little. She would run into the water, grab her kicking child, run back, put her down and hold her attention with a little pushing and pulling for maybe a few seconds before her daughter would get frustrated and belly flop back into the lagoon.

Suddenly Nanuk's steps got a bit more ginger.

"Something wrong?" Wen asked.

"Not at all." he said quietly, grabbing her wrist and pulling her down the slope. Wen slipped awkwardly on a couple of rocks near the bottom and the woman turned around.

"Nanuk?" She called in a soft, mahogany voice. Her bright blue eyes and turquoise necklace glimmered in the fading sunlight.

"You know her?" Wen whispered.

"Second cousins," he quipped. "Katara!" He called, leaving Wen behind and scuttling down the rest of the slope. They gave each other a tight, quick hug. When they separated, Katara cupped his sharp face with gentle hands and turned it back and forth.

"Oh, wow-last time I saw you you were just a kid! What are you doing in Republic City?"

Nanuk chuckled, "Ooh...this and that."

Before Wen could even snicker, she had an elbow in her gut.

"I like the tattoos," Katara added with a smirk as her little girl scrambled out of the water and into her mother's arms, "Can you say hi to your cousin, Kaya?"

The little girl looked just like her mother, save for her wide, brown eyes, with swollen cheeks and a tiny, rosy button nose. She even had the braided brown hair loops. Kaya flug her arm out to say hello, and flung all of the water off her body onto Nanuk's face.

"Oh, no...sorry," Katara halfheartedly apoligized. Wen just laughed. "We're working on that..." she pulled the water out of Nanuk's clothes and threw it on the ground. "So," she started after giving her daugter a light scolding, "what do you need?"

"Actually, I don't-" Wen shoved him out of the way and whipped the dagger out of her bag.

"Do you recognize this dagger?" She asked.

Katara froze for a moment, then shakily pulled the sheath off of the blade. She turned it around in her palm, "Where did you get this?" She asked, her sot voice suddenly threatening.

"I've always had it." She stated, undaunted.

Katarams eyes flipped up to hers, "You're sure?"

Wen nodded.

Katara held her stare for a few more seconds, searching for any hint of a falter, but when she found none-

Katara nearly dropped her wriggling daughter. "Go find, Daddy. Go, go!" She told her, pushing her back towards the path.

Nanuk stepped forward, "Katara, you're not serious-"

"Serious about what?" Wen asked excitedly as Katara looked her up and down.

"You look just like her..." she said dreamily.

"Look just like who?" Wen begged.

"You don't know?" Katara asked. She sighed, shaking her head, "Katil...I was worried you might..."

"Is that my mother?" Katara looked up at her. Wen's eyes were bright and nearly welling up. "Is...'Katil'...my mother?"

"Katara!"

They all looked up. A man on a glider dove into the scene, tossing up sand as he came to a stop and landed gracefully on his feet.

"A-Avatar Aang...!" Nanuk gasped. Wen was frozen. She had only seen pictures of the boy who had ended the Hundred Year War...but this was a man. A tall, strongly built man with broad, sloping shoulders, a hard brow and a sharp, bearded jaw. He was dressed like the air acolytes in the traditional yellow and orange Air Temple garb, save an ornate wooden necklace hanging from his neck. His eyes were a kind, pale brown, that at first looked concerned as he addressed his face, but then turned to shock when they laid on Wen.

"Aang...I'm nearly positive that this girl...is Katil's daughter." Katara said gingerly, "She has the dagger, and-"

"You look just like her." Aang said suddenly, stepping towards her. Nanuk flinched, but Wen stood tall. "Same hair, same face-everything but the eyes." He noted. "Those..." he looked to his wife. "What do you think we should do?"

Katara just shook her head.

Wen looked anxiously back and forth between the two. "Wait-what do you mean 'what should we do'? Do you know where my mother is?!"

Aang looked down. Katara looked away.

"What? Is she dead? That's okay if she is-I only really wanted to find out who she was...do you know where she's buried or maybe-"

"We...we don't know anything about where your mother might be." Aang told her honestly, placing a ginger hand on her arm, "We haven't seen or heard from her in twenty-two years."

"O-oh..." Wen said quietly, squeezing the dagger tight. "Well, then what about my father? Do you know him, too?"

Again, Aang and Katara just looked at each other.

"_Well?!_" Wen demanded.

Aang sighed, then wrapped an arm around his wife and laughed. She elbowed him in the ribs to shut him up. "You resemble them more than you know!"

Wen screwed her face up and stomped the ground, "_WHO?!_" she demanded, little flecks of fire coming out of her nostrils. Nanuk rolled his eyes, mumbling to himself.

"And she's a firebender!" Katara exclaimed.

"A bad one." Nanuk muttered.

Wen stuck her tongue out at him. Aang and Katara smiled.

"What's your name?" Katara asked. Wen instantly perked back up.

"Wen,"

"A good name,"

Wen blushed.

"Why don't you stay with us for a few nights?" Katara offered. "We have some catching up to do," she nodded at Nanuk.

"We've already got an apartment in the city-"

"I'll have all of your stuff moved here by nightfall. Besides, your cousin's coming over for dinner," Aang added, "don't want to miss that!"

Nanuk sighed. "Right,"

"C'mon, we'll show you to your rooms-"

"Avatar Aang!" The group looked up. A short, round Air Acolyte shuffled down the slope and onto the sand, "A message from Chief Bei Fong!"

Aang took the letter from the man and unfurled it, his face suddenly turning down into a frown. He handed the letter back, "Tell the Chief that I'll be over right away-sorry to run out on you so soon," he added to Wen and Nanuk.

"Will you be back in time for dinner?" Katara asked.

"Should be," he replied solemnly, kissing her goodbye before popping open his glider and taking off.

"He really is amazing..." Wen whispered as Aang turned to just a speck on the horizon.

"Yeah..." Nanuk agreed. He stepped forward to get a better look and brushed her arm with his. They both flinched.

Katara rolled her eyes, "Let's go before he comes back-you'd think he'd be modest but Aang _loves_ his compliments,"

Wen laughed, Nanuk smiled, and they followed Katara back up the slope to the main area.

The interior of the barracks was even nicer than the outside. Everything was so orderly and clean. Wen even got her own room with her own bed and her own bath and her own desk and her own window and her own floor! As soon as Katara closed the door Wen jumped right onto her bed and pulled the blankets out of all the tucks, wrapping herself up in a big cocoon. Katil...that was her mother's name. And she looked just like her! She tried to picture an older her: a beautiful, mysterious, Fire Nation woman with curves and soft cheeks and bright, golden eyes-no, wait-her mother didn't have gold eyes. She had...what did Katara say? Or maybe she didn't say anything at all. No, it was Aang, that's right...he said... "What should we do?"

Wen's eyes popped open. She tore out of her cocoon and shot out of bed, out of her room and down the hall. She stomped all of the way across the grounds to the men's barracks and started tossing open doors until she found Nanuk in his bed, asleep.

"NANUK!" Wen yelled, throwing herself at the foot of the bed.

His body snapped awake with a terrified thrash. "Wh-What?!"

"I need a picture of the Fire Lord." She demanded.

His brows furrowed, the fell before he collapsed back into bed, "Not this again..."

"Wasn't that the point of coming here? To find out if the Fire Lord was my dad or not?"

"They said he wasn't-"

"No they did not and you know it!" She yelled, smacking the bed with her palm.

"Alright, alright calm down, I probably have a pamphlet here somewhere..." He mumbled rolling over to go through his bag. He'd tied his dreds up in a pony-tail and wasn't wearing a shirt. Wen just noticed that. Literally his entire body, though in itself terrifyingly muscular and toned, was covered in scars.

"Were you just a really bad pirate?" Wen suddenly asked as he pulled a piece of paper from the bag. He glared at her.

"If I were a bad pirate, we wouldn't be having this conversation."

"Fair,"

He handed her the pamphlet. It was the same, stoic face she had stared into at the train station: sharp, hollow cheeks, full, pursed lips, a thick, heavy brow and a pointed, jutting jaw line. This pamphlet was in color, though, advertising the Harmony Restoration Movement...the Fire Lord's slanted, keen eyes were bright gold, just like hers. Still, Wen couldn't help but fixate on something else. Nearly the whole left side of his face was horribly disfigured by a burn. She never took her eyes off the pamphlet.

"I-I know this might be a dumb question," she started, "but...what happened to him? To his face?" she asked.

Nanuk sat up, rubbing his bicep uncomfortably, "I'm not totally sure if I remember correctly, but when the Fire Lord was about twelve or thirteen his father, Fire Lord Ozai, burned him."

"He burned his own son?"

"Yeah," Nanuk replied sadly.

"...why?" Wen asked quietly, setting the pamphlet down in her lap. Nanuk looked at her. He had never seen such genuine pain in a person's face before.

He shrugged, "I don't know." Wen looked back down at the pamphlet.

"Do you...think I could keep this?" She asked.

"Sure,"

"Thanks," She slipped it into her hem of her pants and started to get up, but changed her mind, "If you don't mind me asking," she began quietly, "what happened to you?"

Again, he shrugged, "Like you said, bad pirat-"

"No," she corrected, "I mean, why did you become a pirate? You seem so smart and you obviously have good connections-you could do whatever you want!"

Nanuk stared at her for a moment, smiled, then looked out of the window, "Yeah, I could," he replied dreamily.

Wen laughed with him and stood up, "Thanks again," she said, before flitting out of the room. Nanuk watched her leave and lifted a heavy sigh.

"Yeah...I could..."

By dinner time, Wen was ready. She had the pamphlet, the dagger-she was just going to ask Katara up front if Fire Lord Zuko was her father-simple as that! No problem. No problem at all...

"Quit daydreaming, Katara just asked you a question," Nanuk scolded, smacking Wen on the back of the head, sending her face first into her soup. Wen glared at him with the rage of so many suns.

Katara laughed, "Don't worry about it. Anyways, I was just asking you if you feel alright-you look a little pale," she reiterated.

Wen shook her head, "Oh-" she wiped her soup-soaked face, "-I'm fine, I'm fine...I was actually hoping I could ask you something..."

"Of course! What is it?"

"Well, yesterday, I-"

At that moment, the door to the dining room burst open and Aang bustled through, dripping from the sudden down pour. Kaya scrambled up from her mother's side and ran to her dad, who carried her into his arms with a light gust of wind.

"Daddy!"

"Kaya!" he kissed his little girl brightly on the nose before setting her down and walking her back to Katara, next to whom he took a seat, exhausted. By this time, the rest of the Air Acolytes had found their way to dinner as well, and the large room was buzzing with activity. Aang, Katara, their daughter and their two guests sat at the head of a long, central table, with two tables full of families on either side of them. The menu tonight was some kind of soup, rice, and steamed broccoli stems. Wen was actually enjoying it, though Nanuk seemed to be a little disappointed at the evident lack of meat. On Aang's heels was another man around the same age who looked a little like an older, thinner, less battle weary Nanuk, besides his pointed goatee and slick, shaved wolf tail.

"What? No kiss for your Uncle?" He asked Kaya. His voice was jaunty and warm. It made Wen smile. Kaya crawled under the table into the man's lap, and he gave her a big, loud kiss on the cheek.

"Thank you for joining us, Sokka," Katara quipped. Dragging her little one back to her side.

"Stuff is crazy right now, what can I say?" Sokka replied, grabbing a broccoli stem and gnawing off the end with a disappointed sigh. He looked over at Wen and Nanuk. "Nanuk, is that you? Last time I saw you, you were-"

"A kid, I know," Nanuk answered quickly, sticking his hand out with a grin. Sokka took it and they squeezed.

"Who's your friend?"

"Wen," he answered.

"Katil's daughter," Aang added with a slight grin. Sokka dropped his broccoli.

"No..." he said with disbelief.

"She's got the dagger," Katara offered.

"And she looks just like her. Well, except the eyes," Aang noticed yet again.

"Yeah..." Sokka mused, "Except the eyes." He sent a pointed stare to his two friends, but they said nothing.

"Is Suki coming?" Katara asked.

"Nah," Sokka replied with a sigh. "She and the Chief are working an investigation right now-it's what Aang, I and the rest of the council are currently meeting on..."

"What's going on?" Wen asked.

Aang frowned. Sokka just shook his head, "Oh, nothing-"

"Is this about my dad?" She asked. Sokka nearly choked.

"You're an idiot," Nanuk whispered into her ear between clenched teeth. She elbowed him in the gut.

"N-no...does she know who her father is-might be-we're not sure!" He asked, changing his stance with every kick Katara gave him under the table.

"So you _do_ know!" She accused, jumping onto her knees.

Aang scratched the back of his head, "W-well..."

"Well _what_?"

"It's complicated." Katara said gingerly, placing her hand on Wen's. Wen snatched it away.

"Look all I want to know is who he is-and maybe to meet him...doesn't everybody deserve at least that?" She begged, struggling to keep eye contact with any of the three. They were all searching for answers in each others eyes. Finally, Aang sighed. Sokka smiled. Katara just looked irritated.

"Maybe," Sokka mused, taking a gulp of his soup, "but I think you already know who your father is."

"I should've just left her in the brig...I should've just left her in the brig..." Nanuk muttered, holding his face in his hands.

"You mean...?" She started excitedly, "You mean, I'm the Fire Lord's-"

Suddenly the door burst open again, but this time it wasn't good news. Two women, badly hurt, fell through the door into the dining hall.

"_SUKI!_" Sokka yelled, jumping out of his seat and running to one woman's side. Wen stood up. She was bleeding-badly-and unconscious. "KATARA!"

"I'm on it!" She yelled, vaulting the table and running to Suki's side. Katara pulled a liter of water from her pouch and placed it over the wound. It started to glow bright blue, and, slowly, the wound started to close up. The other woman, dressed in a torn, metal suit, shakily tried to sit up, but her arms gave out on her and she fell back onto the floor.

"Toph, what happened?" Aang demanded. The woman slowly turned her head. There was a wide gash in her forehead, and hair black hair, once tied in a large bun, was loose and torn in all directions,

"We-we tripped up-" she replied in a quiet voice, blood spurting out of her mouth with every retching cough. "We-we snuck on to one of their ships...at least a-a hundred girls..." she coughed again.

"Nanuk, over here!" Katara called. He raced over. "Can you heal?"

"A little,"

"See to Toph-at least stop the blood loss for now!" She ordered. He nodded and got to work.

Aang brushed the hair out of Toph's face with the side of his hand, "And then?"

"Th-they found us-too many..."

"It's okay," Aang consoled. Katara started ordering around acolytes for supplies. Eventually, they got the two women to a place where they could be carried to a better place for Katara and Nanuk to finished their healing. Wen and Sokka watched from a short distance, just trying not to get in the way. There was a sick feeling in the pit of Wen's stomach. Did she...had she seen...? She looked up at Sokka whose face was wet with angry tears.

"I'll kill all of them," he promised, white knuckling the hilt of his sword.

"Who?" Wen asked quietly.

His dark blue eyes whipped around, and when they met hers, a chill shook her spine. "The Traders,"


	4. Kidnapped

"I'll do it," Nanuk stepped forward from the doorway. Aang and Toph both looked him over, and then nodded.

"You're not going alone." Katara stated.

"I'll go!" Wen offered.

Nanuk pushed her back, "No way."

"But-"

He grabbedd her arm with a protective squeeze. "Chief Bei Fong is the greatest earth bender in recorded history-you cant even boil water. You think you're going to do anything besides get in the way?" He snapped.

Wen looked down.

"If you're careful enough," Toph coughed out, "you won't need to fight."

"I'm really sneaky!" She exclaimed, grin stretched from ear to ear.

"Then that settles it," Aang said, stepping away from Toph's bedside. The Chief had since recovered brilliantly from her injuries under Katara's care, though a torn ligament in her left knee kept her bedridden. Her pallid face was pointed and intimidating with dead, swimming eyes, thin, tight lips,and long, choppy black hair that fell in uneven pieces over her eyes. Even in a white nightgown her frighteningly thin body looked hard as stone and lethal as steel. Toph flashed her blinding choppers,

"Zuzu's girl undercover." She jeered with an approving nod.

Katara rolled her eyes, "Don't get so excited, Toph. That's your kid in twenty years."

Toph scoffed, "Gimmie a break Sugar Queen, I know that you know that _that'll_ never happen."

"You say that now..."

Toph's good leg let her have it. "How's Suki?" She asked, suddenly serious.

"Better," Katara began, "Sokka's with her, now. Her lacerations and bones are all healed, but her internal injuries are so severe..."

"But she'll live?" Wen asked.

Katara smiled and nodded, "Absolutely-no question." There was a twinge of guilt, but she said nothing else.

"Oh, Aang, one more thing," Toph said quickly, grabbing his sleeve, "That shipment...it was from the Fire Nation,"

"Oh...oh no," Aang sighed, falling into a chair.

Katara clutched her belly, "That means they're-?"

"-they've infiltrated the government." Aang answered, his pale brown eyes grave and burning.

"We have to tell Zuko." Toph reminded him.

"Not yet-"

"-it's only going to get worse!"

He jumped up, "_He's not ready_-!"

"Aang!" Nanuk interrupted. All eyes turned to him, "Toph is right. If they're making shipments, things are only going to escalate faster from now on-they'll start widening their scope." He added gravely, "Unless you want the Fire Nation to end up like Omashu, the Fire Lord needs to act now."

Aang sighed, falling back into the chair and scratching his bald head.

"What do you mean, 'like Omashu'? What happened?" Wen asked.

Toph clicked her tongue.

"Don't worry about that, Wen." Katara reassured, "We just need to find out who's in charge."

Wen bit her lip.

"...should I ask to send a hawk?" Nanuk asked gingerly. Aang's shoulders slumped, but he sat up with a determined look.

"No. I'll do it." He said, standing up. "Get some rest." He told Toph before swiftly exiting the room. Katara sighed, stroking her swollen stomach silently.

"As if I have a choice." Toph quipped, folding her arms. "Hey, attention Sour Puss, quit pouting and heal me!" She demanded, pointing at her knee. Katara chuckled under her breath.

"We'll give you some space," Nanuk offered, pulling Wen out of the room. They walked quietly down the hall, Wen just a step behind him. The hospital on the island was small, but clean. Too clean, in Wen's opinion. In every room the walls were bleak and the furniture sparse save a bed and potted plant. Most rooms didn't even have windows. The exit was a welcome sight.

"Let's..." Nanuk suddenly started as they stepped out into fresh air.

"What?" Wen asked.

"Do you want to go to the lagoon?" He asked, turning towards her. His dark skin glowed in the sunlight, and his newly beaded dreds softly swayed in the wind.

"Oh, uh, sure," Wen replied dumbly, her mind on other things.

When they arrived, the water was calm and the beach was empty save for a stray dog running about the foliage near the west cliff. The pair sat on the sat near the shore line, letting the tiny waves just touch the tips of their toes.

"Something's on your mind," Nanuk stated.

Wen shook her head.

"C'mon," he told her, leaning back on his arms and staring out at the horizon, "You're quiet. I usually can't shut you up."

Wen offered a weak chuckle, then pulled her knees to her chest and laid her head down away from Nanuk, pulling her fingers through the sand.

Nanuk sighed, the corner of his mouth turning up. He reached out to the lagoon, and tossed a splash of water on Wen's face-

"Oh-OH!-B-bleh! _Jerk_!" She yelled, shoving him and rubbing her face dry with the hem of her shirt. They both laughed and swayed, leaning on each other for a moment. Wen sat back on her arms like Nanuk and heaved a hefty sigh.

"So?" He asked, casually pushing and pulling the water over their feet.

"You're right!" She admitted, sitting up, "I can't even boil water. I'm probably the worst fire bender _ever_-"

He put his hand on her shoulder, "Hey, I didn't mean it like that-"

She shook her head, "No, no, but it's _true_. _Everything_ you've said is true. The-the fire bending, the trusting, the math, the not knowing stuff about history...I...I think...I think that Avatar Aang and Katara don't want to tell the Fire Lord about what's going on because they know that when he meets me he'll hate me-" Wen got another splash of water to the face. "H-HEY!"

"Shut up," Nanuk snapped.

"I'm _trying_ to-"

"No, you're _succeeding_ at showing me just how _naive_ and _selfish_ you are."

Wen, her gold eyes round as dinner plates, bit her trembling lip.

"You think everything is about you and your little parent search! You think the Avatar cares if the Fire Lord will like his _bastard child_? He doesn't! What he _does_ care about it putting unneeded stress on his _friend_ who just_ lost his wife_! And don't you act like a _victim_ around me. You can't bend? Find a teacher. Can't do math? Find a teacher. Don't know history? There are _five_ people on this island _right now_ that _were actually there_. Just ask them about it and _stop acting like a pathetic child_!"

Wen bit her lip even harder, and pulled her knees tight, tight to her chest. Nanuk threw his hands on the ground, breathing hard. He was watching her, waiting, but she said nothing. She just kept her mouth pressed to her knees.

"What now?" he begged, exasperated.

"Why did you save me?" she asked quietly.

Nanuk let her question register, then crumbled and fell back onto the sand. "You want to know the truth?" He asked, his thick dreds splayed out on the sand. Wen looked at him out of the corner of her eye. "The captain...he saw that dagger and knew exactly who you were. He was going to hold you for ransom. Everyone else was happy with just getting a slice of the pie but...I knew what was going to happen. He'd send a hawk to the Fire Lord who would swiftly ignore it, knowing or thinking that he didn't have any other children. But the captain would be persistent. You'd sit in that cage for months and months starving and wasting away until the day that you died. They wouldn't have even given you the privilege of being lion-fish bait."

Wen didn't move for a moment, and then lied back in the sand, "Really?"

Nanuk reached his hands under his head, "Really,"

"...Nanuk?" Wen asked, staring up at the sky.

"Yeah?"

"Will you teach me all that stuff you said?" She asked, rolling over in the sand.

Nanuk looked up at her, smiled, and then closed his eyes, "Sure, Wen."

Wen rolled back over and laid her head on his chest. He peaked at her through one eye. Her eyes were closed, her hands clasped loosely on her rising and falling chest. Her sleek, black hair was splayed over his body and her peachy skin looked so soft. Nanuk smiled to himself and closed his eyes.

That night, Nanuk and Wen met in Toph's room. Both of them were wearing all black. Nanuk carried a small water pouch, and Wen her dagger.

"Here's the situation, newbies," Toph prefaced, "As cities and their economies grow, the gap between the rich and poor also grows. More poor people means more crime. And more crime means more _organized_ crime. We've had drug problems here in the city for years, but now the crime bosses are adding another item to their menus: women. Within the last few months, fourteen kidnappings of young girls have been reported. On the other end, we've stumbled upon thirty-two girls kidnapped from other nations and brought here as sex slaves. Because of our limited knowledge of the situation, however, we have to assume that these numbers could in reality be much, much higher. We need you to figure out just how much higher these numbers could be, and to figure out who is or who are heading the Republic City sector of the operation." She handed Nanuk a tightly rolled piece of paper. "This is a map of South Harbour. Intelligence predicts that a shipment will be coming in to that port tonight at exactly half past one. Find the ship. Infiltrate it. Found out what you can. Then get out safe." She added pointedly.

Nanuk nodded and they stood up to leave.

"Wen, one last thing," she reached over to her bedside table and pulled open a door. She took out two pairs of armoured plates, "I had these made for you." She held them out. Wen hesitated. "Well, don't be shy about it." Toph demanded, tossing them at Wen who barely caught them. "Your mother swore by them," she said, anticipating Wen's question, "hope you won't have to use them." Wen looked down at the plates and held them tightly to her chest. Now, she had her father's blade, her mother's shield, and Nanuk to keep her safe.

"Thank you," Wen said, putting her hands together and bowing deeply.

"Cut the crap and get out." Toph spat. Wen hurriedly headed out, Nanuk following behind. Toph cracked a tiny smile as they closed the sliding door behind them.

At the lagoon, Nanuk crafted another ice boat and lined the bottom with foliage. "Won't get this luxury on our way back," he reminded, "but it's nice for now." Wen nodded and climbed in. Slowly and quietly they made their way across the bay to the mainland that, despite the time of night, was still brightly lit. The South Harbor, on the other hand, was nearly pitch black save for a few sparse lanterns. Unlike the harbor they had ridden into only two days ago, this harbor was want for ships. It was nearly empty save for one small tugboat and a few meandering people with their hands shoved deep in their pockets. Nanuk docked the boat about fifty feet away, melted it, and lead Wen into the brush. They crawled through the foliage one after the other until the got back behind the harbor. After a shifty eyed man had walked by, they quickly slid down the small ledge and crouched behind a large, wooden crate.

"So now wh-?"

Nanuk covered Wen's mouth with his hand and put an angry finger to his lips. Wen made an apologetic face, then nodded. They waited there in silence for over an hour before light crawled its way past the crate. The ship wasn't huge by any account. It was almost modest. And definitely unkept. Nanuk grabbed Wen's wrist and nodded at her. Quickly they crawled back up into the bushes and made their way to the other side, dropping down silently into the water. Tucking Wen under one arm, he shot them through the water and under the ship. Quickly, he froze a large circle in the bottom of the ship and punched through it, the low pressure on the other side sucking Nanuk and Wen through. Once inside and breathing, Nanuk froze the hole tight.

"You okay?" He asked Wen who was still coughing heavily.

"Khr-yeah," she answered, punching her self in the chest once more before standing up. Nanuk pulled all of the excess water off their bodies, and together they headed for the first set of rickety stairs. "This is familiar," Wen mumbled. Nanuk smirked. Slowly, Wen pushed open the small hatch at the top of the stairs. "Too familiar," Fifty, sixty naked women-maybe more-were anchored to the walls and floor of the level by ropes and chains. Just like on Nanuk's ship most were emaciated or sick. But others looked nearly dead. Wen whipped around. "We have to save them."

"We are here to gather _intelligence_-"

"We can't just leave them here!"

Suddenly they heard a door slam open from somewhere else and they ducked quickly, leaving only a small gap to listen through.

"Oh miss T'ieeen?" called a nasally, male voice, "Your special buyer is here to meet yoooou~!" They heard the quick plod of feet down stairs, and then muffled screams. A woman was being dragged out-literally.

"You and you-round the rest up for transfer in twenty minutes!" The man yelled.

"He's in charge." Wen whispered.

"Or he's close to the one who is." Nanuk offered. Wen nodded and lifted the hatch just a slight bit more. The men were gone.

"Now's our chance!" They slowly opened the hatch all of the way and slipped out, sticking to the shadows. The women who were awake wriggled towards them desperately. "We're coming back, we're coming back..." Wen promised quietly as they slinked towards the staircase. Nanuk climbed up first and cracked the door.

"It leads on deck-a bunch of them are out there...selling that woman...I think _that's_ the captain!"

"What's his name? What's his name?" Wen asked.

"I-I don't know yet, hold on...shit-someone's coming this way-get down!" He ordered, pushing Wen over the stair case. He jumped down with her and they huddled together between to women in the space underneath. The door slammed open.

"Is someone's gag loo-oh. What's...? Oh sh-CAPTAIN! CAPTAIN YEH!"

"There we go," Nanuk muttered. The man scrambled back through the door and on deck. Nanuk turned to Wen, "if we're going to save these women, it has to be NOW."

"Help me break the chains, I'll get the ropes." Wen ordered. Nanuk nodded and they took off. From the door, they could hear the captain hushing and then striking the man. One by one Wen wrapped her hand around the ropes binding the women and inhaled as deep as she could. Slowly, the ropes turned to ashes in her palms. "Through the hatch!" she whispered. A woman with dim, grey eyes spat on Wen's foot, then ran, but Wen paid her no mind. Her heart was racing.

The door to the deck slammed open. There in the moonlight was the silhouette of a portly, well dressed Earth Kingdom man. "GET THEM!" he ordered.

"WEN WE HAVE TO LEAVE!" Nanuk yelled, scrambling to his feet and wrenching her away from her half-freed woman towards the hatch.

"But-"

"BUT NOTHING!" He ordered, pushing her down as eight stone maces soared into the wall behind them. Down in the bottom level, Nanuk broke open his icy seal and surrounded the group in water, funneling them through the opening. Nanuk sealed the hole back up before propelling the women as far away from the ship as he could. When they were far enough away, he made small ice rafts for every five of them and pushed them towards the island. Wen swam with him in the back, keeping him warm with her palms and cheering him on.

Almost an hour later they and twenty two women scrambled on to the shore of the lagoon where a crowd was waiting for them. Katara immediately started ordering her brother and the acolytes around. Wen slowly dragged herself and a blacked out Nanuk on shore before collapsing in the sand.

"Are you two okay?" Aang asked.

"Yes-krrf-yes, we're fine!" Wen choked out, "Nanuk blacked out from exhaustion-krrf-krrf-but no one's hurt."

"Oh, good-"

"His name-krrf-" Wen pushed herself up onto her forearms, plates glinting in the moonlight, "His name is Yeh...and there were at least sixty women on that boat...maybe more-krrf-we could only save so many before they found us-"

Aang caught her head as she collapsed again and rolled her over onto her back, "Don't worry-it's okay, you did a good job, Wen."

She smiled wearily. "Not me...Nanuk..."

"Nanuk, too," Aang added with a smile, stroking her wet hair out of her face. Wen closed her eyes and fell into a deep, deep sleep.

The hospital was packed to the brim with patients. Katara rushed from room to room tending to the most serious internal injuries while the rest of the acolytes wrapped up lacerations and re-broke bones that had healed wrong over the long journey. These women were from Omashu. It was the first city to fall to the Traders and more women came from that city than anywhere else. Twenty-two rescued women, more than sixty on the ship. Toph couldn't believe it. How did she let things get so out of hand? She threw the blankets off the bed and with a sharp upward movement of her hand raised a rock cane out of the ground. She held onto it for dear life just to hobble painfully out of her room and into the next one.

"Hello? Ma'am? Are you awake? My name is Chief Bei Fong and I need to ask you some questions."

At first there was silence.

"Hello? ARE YOU OKAY?" Toph demanded, acolytes too busy to notice the situation bustling back and forth down the hall behind her.

There was a low mumbling from the bed.

"I'll take that as a yes." Toph stumbled over, wincing, and with her heel made a small chair for herself. "Just nod once for yes, twice for no." She directed. "Are you from the city of Omashu?"

The woman nodded once.

"Do you have any family or friends in the city?"

She nodded twice.

"Are you homeless?"

She nodded twice.

"Are you a prostitute?"

Again, she nodded twice.

"Did they hurt you physically?"

She...nodded once.

"Was there any mention of selling you for sex?"

She nodded once firmly.

Toph herself nodded and then shakily stood up, "That's all, thank you for your t-" she had placed her hand on the woman's in a consoling manner. The woman ripped her hand away and scooted over. "S-sorry..." Toph whispered, "...try and get some rest." she added, before quickly hobbling out of the room and down the hall. "Katara! KATARA! DAMN THESE SOCKS I CAN'T SEE A THING!"

"What are you doing out of bed Chief Bei Fo-"

"OUTTA THE WAY!" she yelled, pushing the acolyte as hard as she could without falling. "KATARA! KATARA!"

Katara grabbed the struggling woman by the shoulders, "Toph what-"

"It's her!" Toph exclaimed, dropping the cane and falling on Katara. She was crying. "Katil is here!"


	5. Broken

"Division," Nanuk began, emptying a bag of pale green, flat bottom marbles onto the table. They were sitting in the dining room between meals. The only acolytes there were either grabbing a late breakfast or cleaning up after their peers. "is the opposite of multiplication. Instead of making so many groups of one number to make a bigger number, you separate one number into equal groups of a smaller number." He counted out a few and set them aside. "For example, if you have _sixteen_ marbles, and you divide into _four_ equal groups, you will have four marbles in each group. Sixteen divided by four is four."

Wen gritted her teeth with determination. She was decked out in an air acolyte robe that morning, a bright red sash tied around her waist. It gave her gold eyes a hint of fire. "Okay. I'm ready to try one."

Nanuk nodded. He, on the other hand, was still sporting his blue, sleeveless robes, navy pants and thick, leater boots. He counted out a new number of marbles. "Ten divided by five." He said.

Wen quickly pulled the marbles apart into five groups of two. "Two! Two!" She anwered with a bright grin.

"Mhm, now try this..." He pulled a pad of paper and a pen out of his bag, scribbled something down on it, then handed it to Wen.

"What...?"

"Long division," he answered with a crooked smile.

"It gets harder?" Wen whimpered.

He laughed and they set back to work.

Katara slowly slid open the door to the room, "I'm here for a session, ma'am," she said quietly, her blue eyes on the floor. Hesitantly she looked up. The woman sitting in the bed had been given a billowy night gown, but Katara could still see how sallow and emaciated her body was. Her cheeks were hollow, her lips chapped and as grey as her bloodshot eyes. Her dry, peeling skin had a sickeningly yellow hue to it, while her finger nails, broken and cracked, were almost blue. The woman looked at Katara. Her eyes were dead.

Katara stepped forward, taking up a position by the bed. She gently pulled the covers off of her body. The woman's thighs were about as big around as Katara's forearm. "How long were you with those men?" Katara asked gently, drawing water and starting at her abdomen. Her liver was twisted with disease.

The woman coughed lightly, then whispered with a terrible wheeze, "I don't know," she answered, pushing a lock of brittle, matted black grey hair behind her ear.

"How old are you?"

"Forty...forty-three...I can't remember."

"Do you know what year it is?" She twisted her fingers gently in the water, trying to find the source of the jaundice.

The woman twinged. "No."

"Your liver...it's nearly irrepreable-"

"They drugged us."

"Yes, but yours is much worse than-"

"They had to drug me every time." She wheezed with an eerie grin.

Katara chuckled, "'Never give up without a fight', right?"

The woman pursed her lips.

"Okay," Katara moved the water back into her pouch, "That's enough for now. I'll see you tomorrow, Miss...?"

"Don't play games with me, Katara." She spat, her voice suddenly gaining new vigor. Katara jumped.

"Sorry, Katil. I wasn't sure-"

"If I remembered you? If I knew where I was? If I knew that one of your little errand girls is a_ fire bender_?" Katara stared at her with wide eyes. Katil chuckled darkly. "That's right. I know. Disgusting animals-"

"Katil!" Katara shouted, grabbing the frail woman's tiny, bony hands, "What are you _saying_? _You're_ a fire bender-!"

"GET OUT!" Katil screamed, shoving Katara away from the bed. She thrashed and screamed, tearing madly at her blankets and whipping whatever she could across the room. She started to convulse all of the sudden, foam pouring from her lips-

"HELP!" Katara yelled from the doorway, "I NEED HELP IN HERE!" Four acolytes ran in and they grabbed Katil's wild limbs, anchoring her shaking body to the bed. Katara pulled all of the water from the pouch and incased Katil's head, fingers pressed to her temples. Sweat poured from Katara's brow, and after a few seconds, the seizure slowed to an uneasy stop. Katara dismissed the acolytes, but held the position, massaging Katil's mind into a deep, restful sleep. The energy...it was so twisted and black...so perverted. "Oh, Katil..." Katara whispered. "What happened to you?"

The next morning, Katil remembered nothing, but she was nearly catatonic. Toph, after having felt the events of the previous day, insisted that she go with Katara just incase Katil had another episode. This woman was their responsibility and she didn't want any greenhorn nurses getting in the way. Katara rolled Toph in on a rickety wheel chair and stationed her on the left side of the bed, "Good morning, Katil," she greeted with her best smile. Katil said nothing. Katara drew her water, completed the session, and wheeled Toph back to her room. This repeated for over a week.

"Katara-" Toph began as Katara bent and unbent her bad leg.

"I don't want to hear it."

Toph punched her in the left breast as hard as she could.

"OW!"

"WELL YER GONNA!" Toph yelled back, spraying spit all over her face. Katara just grit her teeth and set back to work. "She's got a screw loose that you know you can tighten-you have to help her."

"And what? Ignore all of my other patients?" she snapped, wrenching Toph's leg back with a little extra force.

"We both know that's that's a bunch of hooey. The only thing you'd see less of is your pretty face in the mirror every morning."

Katara just shook her head. "Roll over,"

Toph obliged. "Why are you so against it, anyways?" She asked as Katara continued to bed and stretch her leg.

"I...I'm worried about Wen," she answered truthfully.

"Wen?"

"Katil has obviously undergone some mental trauma recently...but I think her problems go deeper than that. You remember how she stayed with Jet and the others underneath the lake? What if kept staying with them _after_ that? What if they made her believe that...that what she is is _wrong_?"

"What does this have to do with Wen?" Toph asked.

"She'll find out that she's in here eventually. She'll demand to see her. If her mother finds out that she's fire bender, she'll hate her. It'll crush her. If she never finds out, she might try to convince Wen to give up her fire bending. Or worse-she'll make Wen hate herself." Katara lamented, laying Toph's leg down and drawing some water. She contorted the energy in her leg, now trying to solidify the new bond in the torn tendon.

"You could give her a clean slate," Toph suggested gravely.

"You know I can't do that."

"You mean you're afraid."

"I'm not-! Ugh..." She sighed, rolling Toph back onto her back. "It's...it's just so complicated. She'll be missing over twenty years...how would you react if you blinked and then you were an old woman?"

"Well you have to do something!" Toph snapped. Katara pulled the water back into her pouch.

"I...I guess you're right. Are you ready?" She asked. Toph nodded, and slung her legs over the side of the bed. She slowly slid off to stand on her good leg as Katara rolled the wheelchair behind her. "You'll probably be back on your feet a week or so," Katara mused.

"Better be," Toph mumbled. Katara gave the chair a good starting shove.

Katil was just as she was the day before: staring blankly at the doorway, mouth slightly open, her grey eyes glassy and blank. Still, over all she was looking much better. Over the week she had put on nearly ten pounds and her skin was starting to return back to its natural hue. Just as usual, Katara left Toph posted at the side of the bed.

"Good morning, Katil..." she began gingerly, "We're going to try something a bit different today..." she pulled water from her pouch and surrounded both of her hands with it, pressing her fingers lightly to Katil's temple-

"_Never bend again."_

-Katara's body seized up and her hands flew away from Katil.

"What just happened?" Toph demanded, her good foot pressed firmly to the floor.

"N-Nothing..." Katara whispered shakily. She ground her teeth and put her fingers back to Katil's temple-

"_She's beautiful," Jet whispered, stroking the baby's head. He and Katil were laying in a small bed, a tiny, black haired baby swaddled between them. _

"_She is," Katil agreed, her eyes glowing. Jet coughed and wheezed. His body was skinny and frail._

"_What should be name her?" He asked._

"_...Wen," Katil said after a moment of thought. "I think I want to name her Wen-do you like it?" she asked quickly._

_He smiled, "I love it," He weakly slinked an arm around her and pulled her in for a soft kiss. "I love you," he added._

"_I love you, too." They kissed again, this time for longer. Katil moved her lips slowly against his, though his were suddenly still. She slowly pulled away from him-his eyes were open and blank. He'd stopped breathing. _

"_Jet?" she asked, "JET?" she was becoming frantic. "JET! NO! DON'T DO THIS, PLEASE!" She screamed, shaking him furiously. The baby wailed. "SHUT UP!" Katil screamed, accidentally kicking her as she scrambled to get up. The baby went quiet. Smellerbee burst through the door of the treehouse._

"_Katil-? No...JET!" She screamed._

"_GET OUT!" Katil wailed. "GET OUT!" Her eyes were crazy. She lunged at Smellerbee who easily dodged her and ran to the bed. She grabbed the unconscious Wen. "THIS IS YOUR FAULT!" Katil screamed, throwing a loose stone at Smellerbee. "IT'S YOUR FAULT HE'S DEAD!" Smellerbee was running out of the door when she stopped, turned around, and leapt for the small bag in the back corner. She ripped it open. "What are you doing?" Katil demanded, shakily getting up onto her forearms, "GET OUT!" Smellerbee found a small, ornate dagger, and turned on her heels, jumped the writhing, thrashing body of Katil, and rushed out of the door. "My baby..." Katil whispered, crawling back towards Jet's lifeless body, "_His_ baby..." she kissed Jet's face over and over again, "We'll raise our baby together..._our_ baby..." she reached out to touch Jet's face, but she saw something on her hand. Suddenly her face twisted and contorted and she started scratching furiously as the scars. She cut deep into her skin and blood poured over the bed spread. "Get off me...!" she whimpered, "GET OUT OF ME!"_

Katara pulled her hands away from Katil. She was pouring sweat. And sobbing.

"Katara what's wrong?" Toph asked.

Katara wiped her face. "Nothing," she said stoically. She put her fingers to Katil's head once more, and set to work.

"Wen?" Aang called, walking casually through the women's barracks.

An acolyte addressed him, "Oh, Avatar Aang. Miss Wen and Nanuk are out at the lagoon."

"Again?" Aang asked with a small smile. The woman nodded. "Thank you,"

She was right. Nanuk was laying out on the sand with Wen next to him furiously working at some quiz that Nanuk had written up for her. Aang floated down onto the sand, "How are your studies?" Aang asked. Wen jumped.

"Ha-you scared me!" Wen laughed. "Good, I think...I just finished this one." She said, handing the pad of paper to Nanuk. Aang walked behind him and watched over his shoulder as he graded.

"Wow...you've learned a lot _really_ fast!" He congratulated, watching the checkmarks fall on the polynomial worksheet she had just completed.

"Thank you!" She said proudly.

"Got this one wrong." Nanuk said flatly, though a smile betrayed his apathy.

"What?!" Wen said, "Gimmie that!" she snatched it away from him, "Oh, man...missed a negative. Anyways," she said, recovering spectacularly, "did you want something?" Wen asked, standing up and dusting herself off.

Aang smiled brightly, "Well, I just thought you should know that the Fire Lord is coming."

"Here?" Wen asked, her eyes bright.

Aang nodded.

"When? In a few weeks?"

"He'll be here in less than an hour, I'd say,"

"L-less than an hour..." She nearly lost her balance, but Nanuk caught her easily. He kept a firm hand on her lower back.

"That's right," Aang said with a grin. "Do you want to meet him?"

"Yes-YES!" Wen answered excitedly, nearly jumping out of her skin. "Oh-do I look okay?" She asked Nanuk. He barely had time to open his mouth, "No-no-I need to go bathe-I'm going to go bathe!" She exclaimed, "Thank you, Avatar Aang!" she said brightly, her eyes welling up. "Thank you-thank you!" She yelled, running up the slope.

Aang and Nanuk watched her go, Nanuk folding his arms proudly. "You ruined the lesson," Nanuk joked.

"Thought it was only fair to give her a heads up," Aang shrugged.

"Does he know that she's here?" Nanuk asked.

"...no,"

"Well, then," Nanuk sighed, taking a step forward, "this'll be interesting."

Wen took the fastest and most thorough bath she'd taken in her whole life. She scrubbed herself nearly raw, but when she dried off her peachy skin looked radiant. She didn't have any make up (and neither did any of the acolytes), but she combed out her hair and gave herself a haircut, chopping off her split ends and making herself some straight bangs that hung just over her brow. Using the pamphlet as a go-by, she pulled half of her hair into a high bun, tying it with a ripped off section of her red sash. She put on the blouse and pants that Nanuk had bought her back in the city and checked herself over.

"You look good,"

"Nanuk!" Wen yelped, grabbing her chest. "Why does everyone want to scare me today?" she sighed, turning back to the mirror and patting down her hair. "...you really think I look good?" She asked quietly, brushing herself off.

He nodded, "The bangs look good on you, too," he added.

"Oh, thanks..." Wen laughed, blushing.

"He's going to be here any second-you ready?"

Wen looked herself over one more time, straightened her blouse, and then nodded. "Yeah-yeah I think so!" She answered with a tremor in her voice. Nanuk slipped his hand into hers and gave it a tight squeeze.

"He's going to love you," he promised. Wen turned around. Nanuk's usually sharp and intimidating face was soft and caring and genuine all of the sudden. Wen's heart beat just a smidge faster.

"Y-you think?"

"I know," he gave her hand another squeeze, then let go. "Come on," he ushered. She followed right behind him as he led her out into the plaza of Air Temple Island. Wen craned her neck, trying to find any ships on the horizon.

"Where is he?" She asked. Nanuk grinned. They met Aang, Katara (with little Kaya), Sokka, Toph, and a newly restored Suki at the harbor. Sokka had a protective arm around his slightly weak looking wife, though both were sporting pleasant smiles.

"You look just like you just got off the boat from the Fire Nation," Katara chuckled, brushing her dainty, brown fingers across Wen's new bangs. Wen bowed lightly,

"Thank you, Katara," she whispered, her eyes welling up.

"So this is Zuko's daughter?" Suki asked, walking over. She was a tall, well endowed brunette woman with a soft, pale face and round, chocolate eyes. "You look just like him," she sighed.

"Don't be nervous, Wen!" Sokka cheered in a goofy voice, throwing a joking arm around the slightly trembling woman. He gave her a friendly squeeze, "He's gonna love ya!"

Wen bit her lip and wiped her eyes, nodding.

"He will," Nanuk added in her ear, his arm taking Sokka's place. Wen settled into Nanuk's side. Suddenly she could hear a faint humming coming from behind her. The group turned around. There, in the sky, was a giant, vibrant red and gold detailed air ship hovering over the island and slowly losing altitude.

"No way...!" Wen whispered, her golden eyes wide with wonder. Nanuk gave her another supportive squeeze. The air ship slowly fell out of the sky as it circled the island and came to a gentle rest in the water fifty yards away from the harbor. Anchors dropped from the front and rear of the ship deep into the water below, and a hatch opened in its side. From it a small ship slid into the water and slowly made its way to the island. Two flags flew proudly from the top of the ship. One, a deep red flag with the Fire Nation insignia printed proudly in black. The other, a bright white flag featuring the royal seal.

Wen's heart was literally beating out of her chest and she was starting to sweat. "I-I don't know if I can do this," she suddenly whispered.

Nanuk didn't waste any time in turning her to face him, "Wen," he started, "you are the bravest person that I have ever met. I've never seen you shy away from anything. You risked everything to come here and meet this man. You can do this." He told her with a firm shake.

Wen's heart skipped a beat, and her breath got shallow. "Y-yeah," she whispered. "Just...hold my hand?" She asked.

Nanuk smirked and nodded. Turning her back towards the ship that was preparing to dock, he slipped his fingers in between hers and squeezed hard. She squeezed hard back, watching the sailors jump onto the harbor, tie off the ship, and lower the heavy anchor. Two men lowered a small metal bridge from the ship to the harbor, and another opened the door to the cabin. A tall, finely dressed man stepped out with a regal air, followed by two terrifying guards. Wen squeezed Nanuk's hand even tighter as the Fire Lord turned towards the group and smiled.

"Zuko!" Katara called, waving.

"Zuzuuu!" Kaya giggled.

Aang met his friend halfway down the boardwalk and, skipping the formalities, they hugged tightly. "How long has it been?" Aang asked.

"Too long," Zuko sighed with a smile, turning towards Sokka and Suki. He and Sokka clasped hands and hugged, and he gave Suki a gentle kiss on the cheek. "How are you?" He asked kindly.

"Much better, thanks,"

Kaya burst forward through the crowd and latched on to Zuko's leg. "Zuzu! Zuzu!" she cried, trying to scramble up his leg. Zuko laughed in his dark, warm voice and picked up the little girl, raising her high over his head,

"Hello, Kaya," he greeted, giving her a hug. She sneezed on his face. Katara laughed, whipping out a hankie and wiping the Fire Lord's face. "You know, I could have you _arrested_ for that!" He threatened.

Kaya gasped.

"And sent to the _tickle jaaaaaiiiiillll_!" She wriggled his fingers on her little belly and she squealed with laughter. Zuko laughed, too, and handed the little girl back to her mother. "And how have you been, Katara? You're not working too hard, I hope."

Katara rolled her eyes-

"OUTTA THE WAY, ROLLIN' CHIEF COMIN' THROUGH!" Toph yelled bulldozing her way over to Zuko who laughed out loud.

"I'm not going to lie to you, Toph, but I never thought I'd see the day that-"

"THAT WHAT? I may be in a wheel chair but I can still beat your pale pansy a-"

"Toph!" Katara shouted, covering Kaya's ears. Toph shrugged. Zuko ruffled Toph's hair. She slapped his hand away, flipping him off as he walked past her.

"Who's this?" Zuko asked, motioning to the pair that, together, were approaching the group from the shore.

"This is my cousin, Nanuk." Sokka answered.

Nanuk bowed, "It's an honor, Fire Lord."

"Please, just call me Zuko." he said, waving him off, "I do my best to hide it but the formalities always make me feel a little uncomfortable." He admitted, "And this...?" He started, looking at Wen. "K-"

"Zuko," Aang prefaced, stepping between the two. "Zuko, this is your daughter, Wen."

The young woman looked up, her bright, golden eyes meeting Zuko's with an unimaginable force.

She smiled, "Hi, Dad,"


	6. Loss

_"LEAVE!" He screamed. They all took a shaky step back. Katil didn't notice it, but her eyes were wet, and her hands were clutching her heart. The Avatar was looking at her…they all were looking at her, but a lump was stopping her from speaking, it was choking her._

_"Z-Zuko…" she finally whimpered, taking a shaky step forward, "I—"_

_He whipped around, an arc of fire erupting from his hand. Katil's hands flew into the air on instinct. She screamed, feeling her skin catch fire and burn deep. Zuko turned straight back to his Uncle, his body shaking. Katil fell onto the ground, her eyes wide and her face wet. Zuko…he…_

Katara pulled her hands from Katil's temples and wiped her brow. She grabbed a pad and pen and took down a few quick notes.

"What are you writing?" Toph asked.

"I'm taking notes on all of the traumatic experiences that Katil had before Jet's death. If I can figure out the exact reasons she found these experiences so awful, I can reverse the damages they've done on her psyche no problem!" She exclaimed.

"But?" Toph asked.

"What do you mean, '_but_'?" Katara snapped, throwing the pad down.

"It's affecting you. When was the last time you slept?" Toph asked.

"Oh, so now you're _against_ me helping her?"

"No." Toph flicked a rock out of the floor at Katara's head. "I still want you to help her, but I also want you to make it out of this in one piece. Take a day off."

"And what?" Katara asked, "Try and help Aang and Sokka track the Traders? Try and convince Zuko to see his daughter?"

"...fair," Toph sighed. After Wen and Nanuk's raid, the Traders apparently found and killed their inside man, and were laying low, for now. At the moment, it was nearly impossible to find them. But while the others were starting to ease up until activity continued, Zuko wouldn't stop working. He spent hours alone in his chambers reading, only leaving the room to get food at odd hours and to exercise late, late at night. If he saw anyone with even _remotely_ dark hair he would sprint out of the room. "Anyways, you look like you got things covered, here."

Katara looked at her, "Do you want me to push you back to your room?"

"Nah, I got it." She replied, grabbing the rubber wheels and rolling herself out of the room.

Katara nodded and turned back to Katil. "Okay," she whispered, "next memory..."

_"Where are you going, miss Katil?" Iroh inquired._

_"The villagers will be here within the hour to burn the clinic." She stated solemnly, tossing an extra set of clothes into the bag, "I thought I'd might as well leave before they run me out," she added with a sad chuckle._

_"But you saved them." Zuko protested quietly from the doorway, "Shouldn't they be grateful?"_

_She shrugged, "Save them or not, I'm a fire bender. This day always comes."_

Slowly but surely Toph made her way out of the hospital and across the plaza to the men's barracks. The midday sun shone brightly on her back and her bright green robes fluttered lightly in the crisp wind. The men's barracks was fairly empty. Most of the acolytes would be out meditating or...something, at this time of day, Toph guessed. She hung a tight left at the corridor and stopped to kick the ground with her good leg. Second room on the right. She didn't bother knocking.

"Oh, Toph!" Zuko exclaimed, trying to sort his papers back into order after Toph's exuberant entrance blew them all over the place. "What a surprise," He was sitting at his desk in a long, black, sleeveless shirt and loose red pants. His jet black hair was pulled up-mostly-into a loose bun, pieces falling all over his tired, pallid face. His usually bright, pointed eyes were glazed burdened with dark bags. His cheeks were hollow-he looked like he hadn't gotten sleep in days.

"Was it really, you big dumby?" She asked, slamming the door behind her.

"Not exactly a phrase I'd expect from the Chief." He said with a slight chuckle turning towards Toph in his chair. She was stuck at the doorway. The entire room was filled with boxes upon boxes of reports and records.

"Not exactly the piss poor behaviour I'd expect from the Fire Lord." she snapped back.

"Excuse m-?"

"You know exactly what I'm talking about, Zuko. Have you even spoken to Wen since you arrived?"

Zuko hung his head. "I...I haven't." he admitted, looking at her sadly, "But Toph, I...I can barely take care of my _own_ child-"

"Wen _is_ your child-"

"According to _what_?" Zuko snapped, standing up. "You call me here with all of this talk of kidnappings and 'Traders' and when I get here it's all about my new '_daughter_'! That's not even _possible_-the only woman I've ever been with is Mai and she's-" he stopped himself suddenly. "And she's gone." He finished quietly, sinking back into his chair. A tear fell onto his lap.

Toph shakily stood up out of her chair with a heavy wince and shuffled her way to Zuko. She placed a hand on his shoulder, "I'm sorry, Zuko. I'm so, so sorry-"

"It's okay," he told her, placing his hand on hers. He wiped his face quietly, "I just...I just never imagined that there would be complications...Toph I can't even hold the daughter I know is mine-how do you expect me to accept the daughter I'm not even certain of? Who would the mother even be if not M-"

Toph sighed and sat down as he suddenly came to his realization.

"Oh no...she's not...we only had sex once! In a barn-!"

"I really don't need details, Zuko," Toph interrupted with a knee pat.

"No wonder...she looks just like her." He added sadly. "I even thought it was her at the docks at first, but then I saw her eyes..."

"They're yours,"

"They're...they're mine." He agreed. He reached up and pulled his hair down, shaking it with an exasperated sigh. "What happened to her?" Zuko asked suddenly. "You all carried her away after that fight in the old town. Did you leave her somewhere?"

"That's right," Toph mused, "We never did bring up the subject after you joined up with us. No, she stayed with us. Actually, her story was that she used you to get to us. She wanted to teach Aang fire bending."

"Well, that makes sense." He admitted bitterly.

"No, it doesn't." Toph snapped with a sharp punch to the calf.

Zuko winced, "It doesn't?"

"Maybe at first, but that girl was in love with you. All she did was talk about you...and stare at those scars."

"Scars?"

"You don't know?" Toph asked. Zuko shook his head. "That warning shot was real. You burned her, man."

"N-no way..."

Toph nodded.

"Oh Spirits...I am _such_ an _idiot_!" He yelled, slamming his smoking fists against his knees.

"Hey, cool it there before you set the whole place on fire!" Toph yelled.

"S-sorry..." He apologized.

"It's in the past. Nothing you can do about it, now."

"Yeah, I...I guess you're right."

"Anyways, she stayed with us all of the way until Ba Sing Se."

"...what happened then?" Zuko asked hesitantly.

Toph sighed, "I don't know how, but she got mixed up with Jet and his group. They eventually lead us under Lake Laogai to find Appa. We found Long Feng instead. Jet...he got hurt and Katil...I don't know...she wasn't herself any more."

He clenched his fists even tighter, "And then?"

"I don't know. She stayed with Jet..." she let her voice trail.

"And?" Zuko asked.

"And nothing-"

"Toph you're not Azula. I can at least tell when _you're_ lying." He quipped.

Toph sighed, shaking her head. "You're not gonna like it..."

Zuko remained resolute.

"We found her, Zuko."

He started to stand up, but Toph grabbed him by the pant leg and threw him back in his chair. "I want to see her!" he demanded.

"Well, _you can't_!" Toph snapped, "_Wen_ found her on one of the Trader ships from Omashu, Zuko. She had some life in her until Katara _mentioned_ fire bending and Katil tried to _kill_ her. She probably would have gotten a few licks in if she hadn't had a fucking _seizure_. Now she's just a drooling, skin-and-bones statue. Katara is trying to help her...she's making herself sick she's trying so hard. But right now, if she sees you...it might kill her." Toph said gravely/

Zuko's hands curled back into fists as he ground his teeth, "Jet did this to her?" Zuko growled.

"Partly. Katara thinks it goes deeper. She's trying to find a pattern in her memories-"

"I'll kill him-"

"-he's already dead-"

"Then I'll kill the _rest_ of them-!"

"ZUKO!" Toph yelled, encasing his body in a tomb of earth as she jumped onto her feet. The rim of the cone cut against his throat, nearly choking him. "Have you got rocks for a brain?" She demanded, "Whatever happened to Katil-who did it, what did it-it doesn't matter any more. What matters is that Katara is trying to help her. And that you've got a daughter who _needs_ you. Who risked her _life_ just to _know your name_. You're not an idiot, Zuko, or I wouldn't have wasted my time coming here." She snapped, hobbling back to her wheelchair. She turned herself towards the door and slid it open with her foot. "One more thing," she added, her voice carrying a slightly acidic tone, "she's a shitty fire bender." She slammed the door on her way out.

Zuko turned back to his desk and picked up the next file. _Gujo District: Recorded Kidn-_Zuko put the file down before he'd even finished reading the title. From his pocket his pulled out a small, golden locket and clicked it open with his thumb. Inside was a picture of him and Mai at their wedding. She was smiling so brightly-he'd never seen her smile like that in his entire life. And she looked so beautiful, the new Queen of the Fire Nation. He was kissing her lovingly on the cheek. A drop of water landed on the photo and he quickly snapped the locket shut.

"Oh, Mai..." he whispered, his body shaking. "Why did you have to go?"

"You know, Wen," Nanuk began, taking the worksheet from her, "you're a lot more cheerful than I expected." He admitted.

Wen laughed, digging her toes into the sand. "I was sad at first, really! But I thought about what you said. About how I needed to stop acting like a child. I thought about how I would feel if one day someone just through a person at me and said, 'Hey, you're a mom!' I'd be scared to death!" She exclaimed, grabbing her neck and falling onto her back. Nanuk chuckled. "So right now, I'm thinking that after he gets over the initial shock, he'll come and see me, and then we can start looking for Mom, together!"

Nanuk sighed. "Well, progress is progress, I guess." He mumbled.

"Hm?"

"Nothing," he laughed, handing her back the pad of paper, "One hundred percent. Again."

"Woohoo!"

"But you forgot the back."

"There's a back?!"

Nanuk laughed, "Get to work, pupil," He jeered. Wen rolled her eyes and punched him lightly on the arm before setting back to work.

Zuko, sitting on the cliff just above them, watched the exchange with a tiny smile. She really did look just like Katil, minus the Fire Nation style. Her hair was up, just like on the day he met her half a week before, but now she was even sporting Fire Nation garb: a short, burgundy dress, black sash, two golden arm bracelets, and a red, ornate pin tucked into her bun.

"If you only knew..." Zuko whispered to himself, "If you only knew how hard this is for me...!"

"I think I have a good idea,"

Zuko turned around. Suki smiled at him from above, then slowly took a seat next to him.

"Zuko, you asked me how I was doing when you came here. _I_ am doing fine, but..." she took a deep breath, "but I lost my child that night."

"Suki...I-"

She held up a hand. "You're so sure of how things are that you never expect them to change. You never expect to lose someone you love." she added, taking his hand. He looked away. "But you're lucky, Zuko. You lost someone, and gained another. Wen will never take Mai's place in your heart, but...I promise you, having her, her support and her love, it will make it easier. And eventually, she'll have her own place. If you just give her a chance." She added, giving him a soft kiss on the cheek before standing up. "Now, I have to go tend to poor Sokka. It's well past second-lunch time." She said with a chuckle turning to go.

"Suki," Zuko called. She turned around, "Thank you,"

"No problem, Zuzu." Zuko winced. "Lighten up!" She laughed, waltzing away. Zuko just shook his head and looked back down. Nanuk was handing her the pad of paper back. Wen jumped up and cheered.

Zuko smiled, "Well done, Wen."

That night, Wen was sitting in her room, drawing quietly at her desk. She'd always loved to draw ever since she could hold a chunk of charcoal. Gently, she grazed the paper in quick, short strokes, thickening dark lines and filling in shadows. It was a drawing of Zuko-well, two "Zuko"s. The one on the left was the image of her father that she had imagined as a little girl: a tall, handsome earth bender with a square chin and thick brown beard. His eyes were dark and warm and his face full and even a little soft. In hindsight, this man looked a lot like how she remembered the man whose doorstep she had been left on. His wife died before she could remember, and he died when she was eight. That was the last time she had had a home. On the right, of course, was her real father, Fire Lord Zuko, in full royal dress with a stoic look on his face, just like in the pamphlet. Unlike the left father, Zuko's eyes were on the beholder, watching and waiting.

On the floor of her room were about five other drawings of the Fire Lord: all stoic, all regal. Except for one. This drawing was half laying under her bed and covered in a thin layer of dust-she had drawn it the day she first met him. It was a messy depiction of Zuko crying over a blank space...

With a satisfied smile, she picked up the before and after and blew off the tiny flecks of charcoal dust and pinned it to the wall with the rest of her favorites.

"That's really good,"

"Nice try, Nanuk," Wen laughed, settling back into her chair. Nanuk was leaning against the windowsill of her room, "but you're not going to scare me anymore with that trick."

"Oh really?" He asked, a lilt in his voice. "Then I guess I'll have to try harder."

"Go away!" Wen laughed, "If they catch you over here this late you'll get in trouble,"

"I know," He said smoothly, sitting on the ledge and swinging his legs over into her room.

"Nanuk!"

"Shh do you want them to catch me?" He asked. Wen glared at him. He walked over to her wall of drawings. "Is that me?" He asked, pointing to a drawing in the upper left corner. It was a character drawing, full body, of Nanuk standing with his arms crossed, tapping his foot.

"Mhm," Wen nodded.

"Do I really seem that impatient to you?" He asked.

"Used to," Wen shrugged.

"Well, do you have any more up to date drawings?" Nanuk asked. Wen froze, snatched a drawing of the wall and stuffed it into her nightgown.

"No." She said quickly.

He glared at her. "Really,"

"Really!"

"So why did you just take that drawing off of the wall?"

"...I decided that I hate it."

"Just now."

"Just now!"

Nanuk stared at her for a moment longer, then threw up his hands, "Okay, well, I'll say no m-" His arm whipped around, grabbed the corner of the drawing sticking out between her clothes, and whipped it up out of her reach.

"Hey! Give it back!" She demanded, jumping as high as she could. He pushed her back with his hand and no matter how hard she struggled she couldn't make him budge.

"C'mon it can't be _that_ bad..." he crooned, holding out the drawing. It was a neat, finished sketch of the two of them out at the lagoon, studying. Nanuk was checking over her answers with a tiny smile, and Wen was looking down at her wriggling toes. In the drawing, she was blushing. The more he looked at the drawing the more he forgot about the angry girl he was holding off and soon he'd let up enough that she reached around and snatched it out of his hand. She rolled the drawing up, burned it beyond recognition, and tossed the remainder in the waste bin.

"So, we're done with that!" Wen declared, putting her hands on her hips. Nanuk turned to face her. Just like in the drawing her golden eyes were trained down to the floor, and her cheeks were a deep, deep red. "You know, I hate how you think that you can just go and do stuff like that!" She huffed, folding her arms. Nanuk stepped closer to her. In the moonlight...she looked beautiful. "I mean, does privacy mean anything to-?" Nanuk took her face with one hand, and her waist with the other, and pressed her body to his. "Nanuk, what are you...?" Slowly, he lowered his head, and she closed her eyes. When their lips met, she brought her arms up around his neck and pulled him even closer. He tasted salty and his lips were rough. She tasted sweet, like molasses. Nanuk slowly, unwillingly pulled away, letting the tip of his nose graze hers.

"I...I should go," he whispered, letting her go.

Dreamily, she nodded, and he was out of the window before she could even say goodnight. Wen turned and sat on her bed. She felt like her whole body was shaking...in a good way. Suddenly her face burst into a giant smile and she grabbed a pillow, hugging it tightly. There was no way she could sleep now. She got up, sat back at her desk, and set to work on a new drawing. It was a picture of Nanuk and her...kissing.

It was well past midnight, but Aang opened the door to their bedroom and found that Katara was still hard at work. "Sweetie?" he asked, laying his hands on her shoulders and kissing her lightly on the neck. "Don't you think you should try and get some sleep?"

"I-I will, Aang, I promise, but I think that I've almost got this figured out!" She exclaimed, holding up her work for him to see. Every moment that Katil finds 'traumatic' has had to do with losing a home or a loved one. I think that she has a fear of loss!"

"Great, Sweetie, that's great, now come on-"

"The problem is, everytime I try and heal her from that angle, nothing changes. I think I'm missing a memory...something far, far into her past that holds the real key. Something that _gave_ her this fear!"

Aang sighed, "It makes sense," he indulged, slowly undressing for bed, "most fears originate in childhood-"

"Though, I might have missed something...I don't think I got a good enough grasp of the village memory-"

"Katara," she looked up at her husband, "when was the last time you got a good night's sleep?"

She looked as though she had an answer, then crumbled.

Aang took his wife's hand and pulled her out of the chair, "You know better than anyone that all this stress isn't good for the baby," he reasoned, squatting down and kissing his wife gently on her stomach. Katara sighed quietly.

"I know, I...I'm just so invested in this...I can't sleep with all of these thoughts-"

"Shh," he crooned, slowly sliding his tattooed hands into her robes, "I bet I can help..."

On the other side of the island, Katil stared up at the ceiling of her room, her feet flexing back and forth with the rhythm of her crawling heart beat. The door to her room slowly rolled open, and a cloaked man stepped inside. She didn't pay him any mind. He pulled up a chair next to her bedside and sat down. For at least three hours he sat there, quiet and still as stone, and for three hours she laid there, flexing her feet back and forth. At four a.m., one hour before Katara would be up and back to work, the man stood up and placed a soft kiss on Katil's forehead. As he left, the movement under the sheets slowed to a stop, and until Katara came in to see her the next morning, she cried.


	7. All Your Fault

"Would you like another fish?" Suki asked.

Wen took the small platter from her, "Oh, sure! Thanks," she said cheerfully, sliding one onto her plate. She made a yummy noise and dug in. It was around seven o'clock and everyone was gathered around a breakfast table save for the owners of two empty seats. Katara was already hard at work in the hospital, and since the day he arrived Wen had saved a space for Zuko at the table just to her right, but a week and a half later the spot had yet to be filled.

Toph dumped a bowl of rice into her mouth. "How's the hunt?" She asked, looking pointedly at Sokka.

"Actually, we have a lead." He said, swallowing, "An anonymous source came out with some new information. We're planning another covert mission, now."

"You got a team in mind?"

"Ty Lee is on a boat now from Kyoshi Island," he said.

"I'll be joining her," Suki asserted.

Sokka ground his teeth, "Apparently," he muttered. "We have one more spot we need to fill, but otherwise, that's it."

Wen stuck a roll in her mouth, a little disappointed.

Toph nodded.

"So what's on your agenda for today?" Aang asked Nanuk and Wen, stretching his shoulders, "More studies?"

Nanuk nodded, "The math is going unexpectedly well, but there's still a bit left to do." He said with a tiny smirk.

"Actually," Everyone at the table looked up. Fire Lord Zuko approached the head of the table in a white, sleeveless dress shirt and his loose red pants. He had a soft apprehensive look on his face, and his golden eyes were fixed on Wen with a glowing hopefulness. "I was wondering if I could have her-just for today." he added quickly.

Nanuk stood up and tipped his head, "By all means. I have some business in town I need to see to, anyways. Be back in time for dinner," He closed casually.

"Good luck!" Wen called after him, waving. He threw up a hand as he closed the door behind him.

"I, uh...hear you could use a few fire bending lessons," Zuko suggested, taking the empty seat. Toph smiled quietly.

"I-yes!-If you don't mind...!" She stammered excitedly, her face turning red.

"What? Did you run out of boxes? I can get you some more-OW!" Sokka yelped, jumping out of his seat. A little pointed rock cone stuck out from the cushion and quickly sunk into the floor. "Just a joke!" Toph scowled, but everyone else laughed.

"Fish?" Wen asked, holding the platter out to Zuko. He took a few and smiled brightly.

Katara inhaled and exhaled deeply, feeling the qi flow through her chakras and build in her limbs. Slowly she drew water around her hands and placed them to Katil's temples...

_Katil, kodachi in hand, skipped down the dusty road through a small, Fire Nation village. The streets were full of modest people laughing and chatting. Soldiers in pairs strolled back towards the center of the town, leading excited kids her age in groups of two or three. They were all fire benders that she recognized from school. She tried to pay them no mind and picked up speed-_

"_Kazue!"_

_The little girl stopped, "Oh, hi Ms. Yuan," she said, bouncing on the balls of her feet. Ms. Yuan was an older woman with a soft, wrinkled face and salt and pepper black hair. She ran a fruit stand with her husband-they sold really good papaya. Their son was Nobuo's age, but he had recently be promoted to lieutenant. They had thrown a party for him two weeks before._

"_Are you not going to the recruitment rally?" The old woman asked with a kind smile._

"_No, I'm not a bender," Katil lied._

"_Oh, but your brother was so talented...I just thought-"_

"_That's okay, Ms. Yuan," she said, reaching into her pocket, "can I buy some papaya?" she asked, handing her the money._

_Ms. Yuan chuckled, "Oh, of course! Sometimes I forget just how much your mother loves that papaya!" She pulled three off of her stand. Katil held out a small basket and Ms. Yuan gently dropped them inside along with the other groceries._

"Eugh," Katara mumbled with a disapproving frown.

"_Thanks!" Katil called as she skipped away. The sun was starting to set over their little village. As soon as it fell under the horizon, she would be safe for another year. The scenery quickly became more rural as the market faded and the farm lands began. She and her family lived in a small farm in an even smaller cottage, but she could still see her house on the horizon-_

"_AAAAH!" Katil screamed, dropping her swords and casting a shield of flames. The armadillo lion that had attacked her reared back, then as the flames dispersed, down for the chops that had fallen out of her basket and scuttled back into the brush. Katil's breath came back to her suddenly and her heart was beating a million times per minute. She looked around quickly, but saw no one there. "Whoof..." she sighed, quickly gathering what remained of her purchases and running back home. _

"_Kazue, you're back! How was the trip!" Her frighteningly thin mother asked as the little girl tore into the house. Katil dropped the broken baskets and bruised fruits at the counter by her mother._

"_Fine!" She said quickly before sprinting up the stairs to the attic. She jumped into her rickety bed and burrowed under the blanket, crying as quietly as she could._

"_Kazue?" asked a deep, man's voice. "Kazue? Did something happen?" he asked, sitting on the bed. Katil broke out of the blanket and crawled into his arms._

"_Dad! Daddy I was so scared-this armadillo lion attacked me out of nowhere-!"_

"_Are you hurt?" He asked urgently, checking over her tiny body. The man was thick built and strong with a heavy beard, but his face looked withered, stressed, and tired._

"_No-no-I'm fine, but..."_

"_But what?"_

"_GUO!" Katil's father looked towards the door. Katil's mother appeared in the doorway a moment later, "Guo...!" she started, breathing heavily. Her face was stricken with terror._

"_Hachi-"_

"_Guo, the conscription officer is outside. They're looking for Kazue!"_

"_What? WHY?!" he demanded. _

"_Someone saw her fire bend-they're demanding she join the army!"_

_Guo's eyes, full of anger and shock, snapped back to Katil, "Kazue, you didn't..."_

"_I was so scared, Dad!" She pleaded. Gup hugged his daughter tight. _

"_Guo..." Hachi nearly whispered, her voice choked up in sobs, "...what do we do?"_

_He stroked his crying daughter's hair slowly and methodically, grinding his teeth in thought. "We have to give her to them," he finally said. Now it was Katil's eyes that snapped up to his, but hers were begging for mercy._

"_Guo, no!" Hachi yelled, dropping to her knees in front of her husband, "I can't lose another child-!"_

"_HACHI!" Guo bellowed, standing up to tower over his hysterical wife. "Pull yourself together," he snapped, pulling Katil off of the bed and marching her towards the door, "I'll handle this." _

_The conscription officer was a short, sour looking man with a skinny, stringy beard and tiny, beady black eyes. A deep scowl highlighted his wrinkles. He was speaking to two soldiers as Guo and Katil emerged from the house. "Is this Kazue?" he asked, turning around. Katil gasped and stifled a cry._

"_Yes," Guo stated solemnly. _

_The officer nodded his head, and one of the two guards stepped forward and snatched her away. "DAD!" Katil screamed, but his usually warm, grey eyes were focused squarely on the officer. "DAD HELP ME PLEASE!" She begged just as the officer struck her over the head, and she blacked out... _

_Katil's eyes blinked open. She was in a dark, dusty room-_

"AAUGH!" Katara screamed. A bright, white light blinded Katara's mental perception and a piercing screech paralyzed her. Her body was thrown off of the bed and hard against the opposite wall with a hard thud.

"Katara? Katara are you okay?" An acolyte asked, bursting into the room. Katara was breathing hard, and one of her hair loops had fallen out. The acolyte took her hand and helped her up, "You need to be more careful..." he advised, gingerly placing a hand on Katara's belly.

She brushed him off, "I'm fine, thank you. Please," she said. He bowed and left the room. Katara sighed and sat back down on the bed. Katil was looking much better than when she had arrived. All of her wounds and diseases, inside and out, were healed and she was a much healthier weight, but she was still staring up at the ceiling, as though trying to find a way out. Katara caressed the woman's cheek. It was wet. "Why are you trying to hide this from me? Is this the key?" She whispered.

Suddenly, Katil took a sharp breath. "No...!" she suddenly wheezed.

"Katil!" Katara exclaimed, "You can speak!"

"You can't..." she begged, "N...no one...can..."

"No one can what?" Katara asked urgently.

"...know...!"

"Oh, no-Katil-I know this memory is awful, but if I don't see it, I can't help you!"

"N-no..."

"I can't help you..." she took a deep, uncertain breath, "...or Wen."

Suddenly, Katil's glazed eyes popped open with life, "Wen!" she shouted past blurry coughs, "Wen..." she turned to Katara, "...you know...my daughter?" she asked, her eyes welling up with tears.

Katara smiled, tears suddenly running down her face, too, "Yes! Yes, I know her!"

"How is she?" Katil asked, "Is she okay?"

"Yes!" Katara exclaimed, "She's beautiful and healthy and happy,"

Katil settled back into the bed, a peaceful smile on her face, "Thank the spirits..." she whispered.

"But," Katara began, placing a hand on Katil's, "she needs a mother,"

Katil's smile fell, but she wasn't blank. She was sad-so, so sad.

"She needs you, Katil."

Katil swallowed a large lump, and then, shakily, she lifted Katara's hand, and placed it on her head, "Quick," she whispered, "before I disappear,"

Zuko and Wen walked along the property together making small talk for the most part on their way to the lagoon. It was the only place Aang would let them practice, seeing as Wen was so new to it and he didn't want any of the relics burnt to a crisp.

"Can I ask you a question?" Zuko said as they started down the slope.

"Only if I can ask you one!" Wen replied with a grin.

Zuko chuckled, "A-alright, well..." he began, "I just wanted to know...when you found out that I was your father...what did you think?" he asked. "Were you happy or disappointed or-"

"Surprised?" Wen said tentatively. "I always assumed my parents would be Earth Kingdom, seeing as I've lived there my whole life. I mean, obviously I got my firebending from somewhere, but I definitely didn't guess that my dad would be the Fire Lord! Honestly, I'm just glad that I found out who you were! I'd be just as happy if you were some marauding, raping, pillaging, thieving-"

"I get it," Zuko stopped her with an exasperated chuckle.

"Sorry-Nanuk says I can get a little over excited." She shrugged with a small smile.

"Well, good. Maybe I can learn from you." He admitted.

"What do you mean?" Wen asked, slipping off her shoes before hopping on to the sand.

"Palace life is...a little stuffy,"

"I guess?" Wen laughed.

"Sorry-I don't mean to sound proud."

Wen just shook her head. "My turn!" She exclaimed. "Wh-"

"We only have so many hours of sunlight," Zuko interrupted, "Let's start this now before it gets dark."

Wen nodded, "Aye aye, Cap'm!"

Zuko cocked an eyebrow.

"Sorry..."

They both smiled.

"Let's see your best fire blast." Zuko said, taking a seat on the sand.

Wen nodded. She bent her knees and bounced on them a little bit. Zuko frowned. Then she reeled back like she was going to try and throw a ball across the bay and threw herself forward, "HIIIYAAAH!" she screamed, punching out her left arm. A tiny, wimpy, blip of fire fizzled out of her fist before she lost her balance, tripped over her own feet and face planted in the sand.

Zuko winced. "Toph wasn't kidding," he mumbled.

Wen shrugged, pushing herself up onto her knees and brushing the sand off of her face, "Not a lot of fire bending teachers in Old Earth Kingdom territory,"

"Apparently," Zuko clucked as she got back on to her feet. He sighed and stood up with her. "Alright, lesson one..."

Wen beamed.

When Nanuk walked through Republic City with a casual quickness, both hands in his pockets, never making eye contact with a soul. He seemed to know these streets like the back of his hand, even though he'd only walked through the city a few times. The sun was on its way down the western sky and it gave his dark skin a pinkish hue. On his way, he stopped by a small cart selling jewelry. He bought a gold bracelet for Wen, then was back on his way. As he got closer to the outskirts, the well kept streets suddenly turned to pot: the roads were cracked and covered in litter, homeless vagabonds wandered aimlessly, crude graffiti tattooed the walls of functional and abandoned buildings alike. Nanuk took a sharp right down a narrow alley and slipped into a dilapidated apartment complex through a rusted metal door. It was dark inside, but Nanuk got around as though it were as bright as day. Up a flight of stairs, down a hallway, around a corner...finally he came to another door, and without hesitating he turned the knob.

Captain Yeh and two other men stood talking in front of a desk, the sun behind them casting dark shadows on their faces.

"Ah, Nanuk. Good to see you," Yeh welcomed, holding his previous conversation at bay. "What is our current situation?"

"Everything is going according to plan."

"THE TOPH IS BACK!" Toph yelled, bursting out of the hospital. She shot herself into the air and dove into the ground, surfacing with a rocky flourish, "WOOHOO! AWW YEAH! BACK IN BUSINESS-"

"TOPH!" Aang yelled, nearly tackling her.

"Hey-what's the deal, Twinkle Toes? Can't a girl get _excited_ anymore?" She snapped.

"Not when Wen and Zuko are practicing!" he said, dragging her over to the cliff.

"Okay-I get that this is a big deal, but aren't we putting a little too much importance on it? I can _walk_ again-!"

"Toph-shh!" Sokka told her, wrapping a tight arm around her shoulders, "She's actually doing it!"

Down on the beach, after almost four hours of working at it, the two fire benders were artfully weaving large, healthy flames through the air, over their heads and out over the bay.

"She's improving so quickly!" Suki gasped.

"Well, she's got a good teacher," Toph smirked.

"And good stock," Aang reminded, "I'm not surprised at all that she's got so much talent."

"Well done!" Zuko congratulated. Wen was doubled over and breathing hard, but she looked up at him with a huge smile. "I really am impressed-the only two people I've seen improve faster than you are Aang-but he's the Avatar so that's not fair-and my sister-but she's crazy, so she doesn't count either. You're amazing!" He congratulated.

Wen jumped up, "You really think so?!"

"Absolutely!" Zuko exclaimed, watching his daughter jump up and down. She did a one eighty, a little dance, and then saw the sky.

"Nanuk's probably back by now-I have to go tell him!" She shouted, turning back to Zuko. She ran over to him and, despite his sudden flinch, gave him a tight hug, "Thank you!" she said again, before running up the hill. Zuko just stood there. A frozen, red faced statue.

Aang and Sokka laughed out loud-

"HEY! SHUT UP!" Zuko yelled from below.

Aang and Sokka gave an apologetic wave.

"Jerks...!"

_Katil's eyes blinked open. She was in a dark, dusty room with ten or twelve other kids. They were all asleep. Through a window she could see that it was nighttime. Suddenly the door to the room creaked open. Katil quickly laid on the dirt and did her best to fake sleep, but a hand wrapped tightly around her forearm and threw her onto her feet. _

"_Shh..." the man whispered, putting a finger to Katil's lips. He was a skinny, dirty man wearing a standard Fire Nation uniform with big, hungry eyes and long, flappy ears. He must have been in his mid twenties, early thirties. Thin, black, scraggly, sweaty hairs poked out of his upperlip. "We're going on a little field trip!" he sneered, dragging her from the room. _

"_Where are we going?" She asked._

"_Don't say a word," the man said, "and everything will be okay."_

_He lead her out of a small building-the permanent officer's quarters just outside of town. It's where they kept all of the new recruits until transport arrived. In the near distance, Katil could see light coming from the town square. The man drug her towards it, as as soon as she could recognized the men standing by the execution block, she was thrown down behind a bush. The man squatted next to her and grabbed a wad of her hair, pulling her onto her knees._

"_See that?" He asked, pointing at the cuffed man they were leading to the block. _

"_Dad..."_

"_That's right," he laughed, pushing her face back into the dirt, "They're going to kill him. Chop his head right off!" He lightly karate chopped the back of her neck._

"_No...Dad..."_

"_Shh!" the man said again, pulling her head back up to look at him. "They've charged him with treachery, but I've heard the story. I know that it's all-your-fault!" he sang, touching her nose with every word. She choked up, shaking her head. "Deny it all you want, but he's probably going to die..." he jeered, squeezing her cheeks. "Hush up now, there's no need to cry-you can save him, you know?" _

_She looked up at him, "Really?" she whispered. "I can?"_

_He nodded, grinning from ear to ear. His teeth were thin and yellow like a beetle rat's. "Just do whatever I say, and he'll be just fine..." he whispered, pulling off his sash and sliding down his pants. His penis was bulky and stubby and hairy and reeked of sweat. Katil had never seen one before and tried to back away, but he forced her mouth open and pushed her down as far as her tiny throat would allow. Groaning, he pounded her head up and down. She choked on her own spit as tears ran down her face. She struggled to breathe but didn't fight him. Daddy...she thought...it really is all my fault...I'm so sorry, Daddy..._

"_Wow, it really did work out." The man suddenly said, letting up. Katil's head popped up. Her mother was there, pleading with the officer, and the executioner was putting his blade away. "Hey-did I tell you you could stop?" The man snapped, grabbing her hair again and trying to push her back down-_

_The officer grabbed her mother's head and snapped it viciously to the left. The woman crumpled to the ground._

"_HACHI!" She could hear her father yell just as the officer sent a small burst of fire right through his throat. _

"_I'll teach you to ignore me!" The man growled, pushing her face into the dirt and pushing her skirt up. Katil screamed. "Shut up!" The man ordered, covering as he entered her. Blood poured down her legs with a sickening snap. Katil's body seized up and she screamed even louder as he violated her over and over again. _

"_STOP! PLEASE! I'M SORRY!" She screamed against his hand. _

_He just pummeled her harder. _

_And then, something clicked in Katil's head. Or, rather, snapped. He screams turned into stream of fire-  
_

"_AAAGH YOU _BITCH_!" The man yelled, falling back. Katil reached around and found a long stick. "I'LL _KILL_ YOU-!" he barely got the threat out before the thin stick was through his throat, Katil, chest heaving, looming over his dying body. He coughed, spurting up blood, "All...your...fault..."_

Katara pulled her hands from Katil's head. Her body was shaking, almost violently. "You never told us how you escaped..." she whispered, realization flooding in, "...this...I understand now! Katil, I'm so-" she stopped herself. Wiping her eyes, she left it to "Thank you," and the healing finally began.


	8. The Lock Box

"Nanuk!" Wen called, bursting into his room. He was locking a small chest. "Hey, what's that?" Wen asked, suddenly deflating back to normal levels of cheer. She plopped onto his bed and he turned towards her with a cocky grin,

"If I was just going to tell you what 'it' is, why would I lock it inside a chest?" He asked, taking a seat next to her.

She leaned into him, "Maaaybe because you want me to fire bend my way into it?" She flicked her wrist and popped open her hand. A burst of flame erupted and flickered in her palm.

"Hey, that's not bad," Nanuk congratulated with a slightly salutary nod, curling her hand back up, "how about you show me later? Maybe somewhere less flammable?" he suggested.

Wen rolled her eyes. "I wouldn't burn anything! The Fire Lord himself called me a prodigy!"

"Did he?"

"Well, not in those exact words..."

Nanuk rolled his eyes with a small grin. He swung his leg over the girl and pinned her down to the bed.

"H-hey!" she laughed.

"I'll believe it when I see it," he promised with a crooked smile, touching his nose to hers. She laughed quietly, blushing hard, before he kissed her lightly on the lips.

"So..." she began after pulling away just far enough to whisper, "...are we...together?" she asked, her gold eyes sparkling. He rolled over, put his weight on one arm, and, slowly, moved to caress her cheek. Just like the other night, his usually sharp and unrelenting face looked soft and sweet. He kissed her again, quick and gentle.

"Yeah, I think so...if that's what you want," he added.

Wen beamed and wrapped her arms around his neck. With her voice choked up, she just nodded as hard as she could. He kissed her again and rolled onto his back, pulling her onto his chest.

"This...has been the best day of my life,"

The next morning, Wen and Zuko got breakfast on their own, and started practice at the lagoon just as the sun was rising. "Eight hot squats, nine hot squats, ten hot squats..." Wen chanted, sweat pouring down her brow. Zuko, bare chested in loose capris, watched from a few paces away. "How many more sets?" She asked through heavy breaths.

"What number are you on?" Zuko asked without so much as a glance.

Wen opened her mouth, but fell silent.

"Start over," he chided.

Wen ground her teeth but picked it up double time. "Twenty hot squats!" she yelled, popping up from the squat, immediately losing her balance on her shaking thighs and falling hard on to the sand with an _ughff_. Zuko shook his head and tossed a canteen and a towel over to her.

"That's enough conditioning for now-you need a break," he clucked. Wen's sandy, frustrated face popped up. She rolled onto her back, grabbed the canteen, and took a long swig.

"_Aaaaah-!_ " she sighed, relishing the cool water. Casually she brushed the sand o of her pale shoulders, "I think I might be getting burned..."

Zuko paid her no mind.

"...I'm still mad at you, by the way," she mumbled, taking another drink.

His attention finally secured, Zuko's eyebrow cocked, "Sorry?"

"You never let me ask you a question!" She asserted, sitting up.

Zuko frowned, "You ran off before-"

"Hmph!" Wen folded her arms over her flat chest and stuck up her nose.

Zuko sighed and shook his head, "Fine, ask away,"

"Let's just say I get two questions since you cheated me."

Now Zuko's good eye was beginning to twitch. "Sure..." he nearly growled.

"Alright!-and you _have_ to answer!"

"OKAY, okay! Just ask the questions, already!" Zuko begged, brushing his ong out of his face.

"Why did your father burn you?" She asked quietly. Zuko froze. He was honestly expecting more of a: 'what's your favorite color?' kind of question. Definitely not that. He kept quiet for a while, hoping Wen would catch the hint and change her question, but when he looked up a minute later, she was still staring at him, waiting.

He heaved a heavy sigh, sticking his hand into his pocket and clenching a fist around the locket, "To teach me respect."

"Strange..." Wen whispered.

Zuko offered a bitter chuckle.

Wen opened her mouth-

"Follow up questions count." Zuko warned.

"I know I'm just thinking!"

"Well, if you don't know what you want to ask, then-"

"I'm just choosing between two-don't get your panties in a twist," she muttered, brushing him off. Zuko was taken aback. Scowling, he folded his arms and mumbled to himself bitterly. "...can I ask you two questions, and owe you one?"

"No."

"Please?"

"_No_."

"_PLEASE?_"

"FINE!" He shouted, throwing his fists down.

Wen was unfazed, "Great!" She exclaimed. "Okay, part one: tell me about your wife."

"That's not a question." Zuko half-snapped, sitting back down on the sand a few feet away.

"It counts!"

"...fine," he sighed.

Wen beamed.

"Her name was Mai. She was a gloomy, moody, and indifferent woman who hated just about everything."

"...she sounds awful," Wen remarked frankly.

"...and I loved everything about her." He added in a quiet, rough voice. Wen smiled softly. "Next question." He said quickly, swallowing the lump in his throat.

"What was my mom like?" she said.

"Your mom..." Again, Zuko sighed, "was not Mai. Not in any way. Her name was Katil-at least, that was the name I called her. Her real name was Kazue. She was an incredible fire bender, an intense fighter, and a truly passionate and caring woman..." he added, trailing off.

"...but?" Wen asked.

"But," he began, "I burned her. On accident." He said quickly. "...I never saw her again."

"So...you don't know where she is, either." Wen concluded.

"...no," he lied. "I don't."

"You're not going!" Sokka shouted, slamming his palms on the table. Suki sighed and slid the door to their room shut. Two weeks had past since the failed investigation, and understandably neither had really moved on.

"Yes, I am!" Suki asserted.

"No, you're not!" He yelled, whipping around. His short brown hair was loose and ragged and the bags under his bloodshot eyes screamed a lack of sleep. "I am your husband and I say you're not going so you're not!"

"Just because we're married doesn't mean you _own_ me you misogynistic moron!" Suki snapped, throwing her arms in the air. "As long as I am a Kyoshi Warrior I'm going to help whenever I'm called."

"Then as a member of the Republic City Counsel consider yourself 'uncalled'!"

"Give it a rest, Sokka, we both know that's not your decision." She rolled her eyes plopping down angrily on the bed.

"Well, I'm making it my decision!"

"Please!" She scoffed.

"Y-y-UGHH!" He groaned, pounding his gorehead with thr heels of his hands, "You're not going and that's final!" He blubbered, pulling out the desk chair and throwing himself into it with and awful _squerch_. He pretended to pick up some files and look through them with a scatteted flourish.

"Yes—I—am!" Suki stood up and grabbed her husband's shoulder, turning him around. He was crying. Suddenly all of her anger flooded out of her… "Oh, Sokka…" she whispered sadly. He turned away again.

He held his head in his worn hands and rubbed his face hard as though trying to scrub something away. "Suki, I…"

"It's okay," she whispered, wrapping her arms around him, "I know…" she hugged him tight from behind, burying her face in the nape of his neck. "But I have to go. I know what it's like to lose a child now, and I couldn't live with myself if I sat back and allowed those monsters to make so many more families feel the same way."

"…I know," Sokka whispered, holding his wife's hands in his. "But I'm selfish and scared…if I lost you—"

"You won't lose me," She promised, placing a long, gentle kiss on his cheek. "Even if I died, I'd haunt you to the grave," she laughed, kissing him again.

He smiled uneasily.

Wolf bats danced across the night sky as the hooded man walked quickly to the hospital building, trying his best to keep to the shadows. The hallways were quiet, most of the rooms, empty. The majority of the women that Wen and Nanuk saved had been cleared for realease days ago and were now undergoing relocation to safe zones across Republic City. Only four or five were still left in their beds, and the hooded man was on his way to visit one in particular. Slowly, his slid open the door. Katil was curled into a loose ball, fast asleep, her long, dark hair splayed over the bed. Just like every night before, the man took a chair, carried it to the side of the bed, and took a seat. After ten minutes, Katil rolled over. After thirty, she kicked out a leg. After eighty, she mumbled quietly in her sleep.

One hundred and eighty minutes after his arrival, the hooded man was getting up to leave when Katil's eyes slowly blinked open.

"D—" she coughed, "do you come here often?" She wheezed with a cheeky grin. The man froze—then pretended like he didn't hear her and put the chair back against the wall. "C'mon, Zuko," she whispered, shakily pushing herself up to sit, "You think after all of these years I wouldn't recognize your gloomy mug?"

He sighed.

"I mean, come on, who on this island besides you would bother dressing up just to see me?"

"...The way Toph put it," he tentatively began, "I thought you'd have a heart attack if you even saw my face," he admitted, leaning against the wall.

Katil chuckled sadly, "Maybe,"

They were quiet for a moment.

"How have you been?" Zuko finally asked.

"To be honest, I'm not sure. My mind is…pretty fuzzy," She admitted, "I know that I traveled a lot...looking for something. Ended up finding a whole lot of something else." She gave him an apologetic look. "I was hungry. And cold. Started getting money from less admirable ventures, and then…a ship? I think that's when The Traders got me. They kept me so high that I never knew what day it was. Then I was falling..._crashing_-and...then I saw your face." They held each other's gaze for an unsteady moment, "S-sorry..." She apologized with another melancholy giggle, her words peppered with coughs and sharp wheezes. "How about you?" she asked politely.

"...about the same,"

They both smiled.

"You know about Wen." Katil whispered, looking down at her lap.

He nodded.

"You know, that wasn't my intention—to trap you or anything—"

He waved her off. "I know," he said, pulling the chair back up and sitting down, "we were young and in love—or...I was." He corrected quickly and awkwardly, finding a particularly interesting piece of tile to stare at.

Katil feebly reached out and tipped his chin up, sliding her shaking hand up to cup his cold cheek. "I loved you," she whispered, "more than anything I've ever known."

They stared at each other for what felt like forever. Suddenly Zuko felt how his lips were trembling, how his heart was trying to beat its way out of his chest, how he was slowly leaning in...He took her hand and placed it back on the bed. "I-I should go…" he said quickly, throwing on his hood and getting up to leave.

"Will I see you tomorrow?" Katil asked with a tiny, hopeful smile.

Zuko stopped at the door. "…she's a great kid, you know."

"She has a great father." Katil offered meekly, watching Zuko slide the door shut behind him. In his wake, she looked down at her lap, hands clenched into tight fists.

"You're going?" Wen asked, watching from the door as Nanuk slowly stocked a small knife pouch and tucked it into his sash.

"Sokka told me last night."

She was quiet as he tightened his sash and turned off his bedside lamp.

"So what's the mission this time?"

"Information gathering."

"Another ship?"

"A building in the city, actually."

"Will it be empty?"

"Probably not."

"So what's the plan?" She asked. His icy eyes gave her a look.

"You're doing it again."

"What?"

"Being nosy." He answered frankly. In the mid morning light his dark cheeks looked hollow. She stepped into the room and ran her hand along the side of the bed before plopping down on it. Nanuk cocked an eyebrow. She laced her fingers together and twiddled her thumbs- "What?" Nanuk asked sharply.

"What?"

"What are you doing?"

"Nothing!"

"Well something's wrong."

"Nothing's wrong!"

"Something's wrong,"

"Tell me about the mission."

"I did."

"Tell me more-"

"_Wen_," Nanuk snapped, "stop acting like a child and just tell me what your problem is-"

She jumped up off of the bed, "How about you stop acting like a jerk and just accept that I don't have a problem!" She yelled back at him.

He held her steely gaze for a moment, then heaved a heavy sigh. He walked over and placed a soft kiss on her forehead, "We should be back by tomorrow morning," he said solemnly. Silent, she nodded, and watched him leave. Wen slowly sat back down on the bed, her heart still pounding between her empty lungs. Without thinking, she slowly pulled the blankets off of the bed and hugged them around her shoulders. They smelled like him.

Nanuk was right, of course-something was wrong, but...Wen couldn't fool herself into admitting it. She wanted to say that she was worried about him, that she was scared he might not come home. But if there was any one who could handle himself, it was Nanuk. He was the calmest, most rational person Wen had ever met. He'd beat any opponent, solve any situation. Wen was almost sure that Nanuk could do anything if he wanted.

No, Wen wasn't worried about him. She was just jealous.

With a grumble she threw the blankets off of her and scratched her head. She was dressed in her training garb: a worn, dark green bandeau equivalent and an old pair of black shorts. All hand me downs from Toph who was roughly her size though the top was a little big. Looking out of the window she was due for another training session shortly. At least now she could start bending-Zuko reserved the morning for conditioning to Wen's chagrin.

Wen skipped the walk through the men's dorms and opted to hop through the window into the rough, short hedges just below. Without missing a step she walked briskly through the courtyard, the sun hot on her back. She'd been training with Zuko for over a week now and she was getting pretty good. Even Zuko said was improving-maybe not as drastically as the first day but it wasn't like she was plateauing or anything. So why didn't Sokka want her on the mission? She was probably just as good as whoever this _Ty Lee_ woman was.

Wen shook her head. Maybe she was a bit biased. An innocent question revealed Ty Lee to be a non-bender and an old friend of Zuko's former wife. For some reason, this little tidbit had eaten away at Wen, though she couldn't put her finger on why. Meeting her hadn't helped. She'd shown up two days before in full Kyoshi make-up and dress with a grin that looked like it was threatening to break her face in half. Of course, Wen was introduced to her as Zuko's daughter, and that sent her off for hours about "skin complexion"s and "aura"s. To Wen, it was like a mosquito had latched onto her ear and _wouldn't shut up._

Of course, Zuko was waiting for her on the beach in his white capris, his shoulder length black hair free in the noon wind, his sharp face looking as impatient and irritated as ever.

"You're late." Monotone. It struck a chord.

"You're early." She snapped. His sharp eyes followed her as she crossed him to sit down on a small stone near the canteens and towels. She grabbed a canteen and took a long swig.

"We haven't started yet."

"I'm thirsty."

"_We should really ration our water," Katil said gingerly, trying to keep Zuko from drinking all of their water._

"_I'm thirsty." He snapped back, brushing her hand away and bringing the brim of the canteen back to his cracked lips._

Wen stood up and brushed herself off. "So should I just start practicing my forms?" Wen asked almost bitterly.

Zuko blinked. "N-no," He stuttered quietly.

Wen perked up. "O-oh...then what?" She asked.

"_Zuko...what are we doing out here?" Katil asked desperately. Her face was burned and peeling, her black hair was brittle and matted, her lips were dry and cracked. They were out of food, they were out of water... "We should have just stayed with Iroh..." She admitted, trying to find shade under a dying tree, watching as their ostrich horse ate what little food they could find. _

"_...there's a village right over there. We'll get food and feed." Zuko answered flatly. He was standing just at the edge of the road, looking out at the horizon. In the desert wind his dark green, tattered clothes billowed softly._

"_...then what?" She begged. He turned around. Her soft grey eyes could manage a glaze. Solemnly, he sat down next to her and put his hat on her head._

"We're sparing," Zuko didn't realize what words were coming out of his mouth before he'd said them. A grin spread across Wen's face.

"Alright! Let's do this!" She said excitedly, throwing her fists in the air. Zuko, mostly back on his game, rolled his eyes with a small smile.

"Ready?" He asked, raising two firm, open hands.

"Ready!"

"Go."

Wen jumped up from the sand and spun an arc of flame with her bare foot. Zuko pushed the fire aside with one movement, broke her landing with a second, and had a threatening fist in her shocked face with the third. Grinning, he helped her up.

"What did I do wrong?" Wen asked as he pulled her onto her feet.

"Too aggressive," he said simply, "You're attack was broad and powerful, but easily dissected. You need to think more before you move." She nodded and once again they took their stances.

"Go." Zuko called.

This time, Wen stood her ground for a moment, then rapid fired a number of controlled fire blasts. Zuko easily dodged, but she kept firing, running up onto a large boulder and firing from above. He quick stepped left, right, left, left and brushed off every other attack before he was suddenly at her feet. With one large sweeping motion he sent a wave of fire up into her shocked face. She fell back-barely dodging the blast-onto her ass in the rocky sand.

"Too conservative," Zuko chided.

"Damn it," she cursed quietly.

"Go."

Immediately, she bolted for him with a flame engulfed fist. He caught it, tossed it aside, and was ready to attack when she suddenly dropped to the ground, hopped onto her hands and kicked a blast of fire up straight to his face. He jumped back but wasted no time responding, spin kicking a few low waves of flame at Wen who was clambering back onto her feet. She split the first wave but the second wave caught her off guard. She was able to keep the flames from her skin but the force shot her back into the waves. Zuko ran forward to mate the match but she was up quicker than he expected. They exchanged blow after blow, dodging and taking almost equal hits. Finally, Wen found her opening. She charged forward, jumped, and kicked a huge blast of fire at her waiting father who split it down down the middle only to find a one hundred and forty pound woman falling right onto his face. She took him down, knees on his arms, butt on his chest, and a pointed hand threatening to pierce his throat.

_Zuko looked over. Katil had stabbed a desert beaver snake just at the base of the neck, and was cooking it in her palms._

"_Those are poisonous," Zuko mentioned, watching her rip into its flesh with a vicious growl._

"_They're delicious," She laughed. How long had it been since she'd smiled like that? Katil ripped a hunk of cooked meat from the bone and handed it to him. He took a bite. Wasn't bad. They munched quietly for a while, the hot sun pounding relentlessly on their backs and their spirits. _

_Zuko put his food down. "...why through the throat?" He suddenly asked. Katil looked up. "Whenever you kill anything it's always through the throat." He noted._

_Katil took another huge bite. "Just the way I've always done it." she replied with ease._

"Gotcha!" Wen said excitedly, her chest heaving up and down. Zuko pushed his dripping daughter off of him and stood up. "Oh c'mon, don't be such a sore loser!" Wen joked, hopping on to her feet. "I bet you weren't even trying!" Still, he said nothing. "...Zuko-?"

"Call me 'Father'," he said suddenly, "or...Dad, either one," he added in a gentle tone.

"...Dad..." Wen tried it out quietly, then louder, and finally, "Dad...is something wrong? Did I did something wrong-?"

"No," he said quickly, turning around. He face looked panicked suddenly. "No, no it was great."

She nodded hesitantly, but her eyes didn't agree. Her golden eyes looked away towards the ocean, and Zuko's heart broke.

"Can...can I ask you a question?" Zuko asked quietly.

Wen snapped back, "Anything!" She said eagerly.

"How much do you know about your mother?" The word mother dared to catch in his throat, but came out easy.

"Only what you told me," she replied.

"Only what I've told you..." he nearly whispered, sitting down in the sand. A sudden wind brushed his bangs out of his usually statuesque face. Where Wen was usually searching for answers, now all she found was sadness, or what seemed like it.

"Is...is something wrong?" She tried, "Dad...is-"

"That's enough work for today," he said suddenly. It took a moment to register.

"Oh...okay. See you at dinner, then, Dad." She nearly whispered, never taking her eyes off of him until she was near half way up the ridge.

Zuko listened to the waves roll in and out, in and out on the sand, carrying the grains to and fro, always trying to return home, but forced to journey out to sea...

"How are you feeling?" Katara asked, handing Katil a bowl of clear soup. Katil smiled brightly,

"Better every day!" She wasn't exaggerating. Since Katara's treatment, she'd gotten (nearly) four full nights of sleep, she'd gained six pounds, her skin was starting to regain it's old shine, and the nightmares were quickly receding. With every day she was in better and brighter spirits.

"That's so good to hear," Katara beamed, watching her patient happily drink the clear, nutritious broth. "With any luck, we'll have you on your feet within the next few days."

"Really?" Katil asked. "Oh, I hope so. This hospital is nice and all but I can't wait to get out of here." She joked. "Maybe you can give me a tour of the island!" She suggested.

Katara laughed, "I'm sure that can be arranged."

Katil downed the rest of the soup, "Wow, Katara this...this honestly gets harder to eat every day!"

"Katil?" Katara asked, taking the bowl from her, "I was wondering...I mean, I think you're well enough to see your daughter-"

"Not yet." Katil interrupted. Katara froze. "I'm not well enough yet."

Katara sighed. "Alright, maybe later then," she allowed, standing up from the bed. Katil kept her eyes on her knees. "Is there anything else I can get you?"

Katil stayed quiet.

"Okay then...I'll see you in the morning."

No response.

Katara slipped out of the room slowly, waiting for anything, but left very much empty handed.

"How ya doin'?"

"Toph, what are you still doing here? Don't you have..._policing_ to do?" Katara snapped.

"Technically, _Sugar Queen_, I'm on medical leave for another three days." She threw back. Katara scowled, shoving the empty bowl into the earth bender's hands. "What's got you all wound up? I thought you found the answer to Katil's mind puzzle?"

"Don't talk about it so casually."

"Sorry, did I hurt your feelings?"

"Did you just come here to give me a hard time?!"

"You wish." Toph rolled her cloudy eyes, dumping the bowl on a random counter as the two headed out of the hospital. Night had long covered the sky. Katara hadn't seen her brother all day. "C'mon," she teased, "tell Mama Toph what's wrong." Katara froze in her angry marching and suddenly whipped around-Toph had a hand on her open mouth before she could get a word out. "I don't want to hear what the baby has to say." She reminded. Katara scowled, but took a deep breath and started over.

"I went through the memories, I reworked the twisted energies, and I've done everything I can to get her body back to health and she seems to be improving incredibly fast except for the fact that she _will not_ see Wen!"

Toph's lips pursed to the left.

"What?!" Katara demanded.

Toph sighed, "Why are you trying to rush this?" she asked.

"I'm not rushing anything!" She asserted, throwing her arms in the air, "Katil let me see that memory _because_ of Wen. Why wouldn't she want to see her?"

"You don't think that you're putting yourself in that bed, do you?"

"I-!" Katara had barely started before deflating.

"C'mon," Toph cooed, throwing her arm around Katara's shoulders, "little Kya misses her mom, too,"

Zuko paced back and forth in his cluttered room, his hands shoved deep in his pockets, the locket clutched tight in his fist. He was shirtless—dressed for bed, but not tired at all—and the moonlight from the easterly window highlighted his toned chest and the dark scar marring his abdomen. He shoved his fists deeper into the pockets of his white night pants, a frustrating shiver running up his spine. He itched it angrily.

"_Fuck_," he spat, running his head right into the wall with a grunt. "_Fuck, fuck, fuck_," he muttered, smacking his forehead against the wall with each curse. He whipped around, "I'm not going." He said firmly, pulling his hands out of his pockets and slamming his butt down in his desk chair. His clenched fist opened reluctantly, and he popped open the locket in his palm.

She was so happy.

He sighed. Snapping the locket shut, he got up, grabbed his cloak, and stormed out into the night.

Wen knew this was a bad idea. Oh, but she knew it deep, deep, deep down. Deep enough that she didn't hesitate one moment as she snuck into Nanuk's room. She slid in through the window, quiet as a breeze, and just like earlier she climbed onto the low bed and pulled the blankets around her, inhaling her boyfriend's scent. Slowly she closed her eyes, and she rested for a moment, but the fear of getting caught kept her awake. Slowly her golden eyes fluttered open and landed on the lock box.

She reached out and grabbed it, pulling it to her side. It was a plain little brown box, but the lock that had been jimmied on seemed decently formidable. Wen pulled a pin out of her hair, snapped it in half, and set to work, popping the lock open after a few minutes of jiggling. Slowly, she lifted the lid. Inside was a beautiful gold bracelet, and a thick, wax-sealed roll of paper. Without thinking she broke the seal and the papers fluttered open.

A dark haired, pallid woman briskly made her way across the island, keeping her eyes forward, never looking back. She started in a walk, then a jog, and suddenly she broke into a dead sprint, running as fast as she could on her weak, shaking legs-

She hit the ground with a dull thud.

"Oh-uh-sorry..." Wen apologized, her once fear filled eyes now trained on the woman she'd knocked over. In the early morning light she could see her shining, straight black hair, her glowing skin, her soft, round face and her sharp, grey eyes...

Suddenly the woman jumped up onto her feet and took off behind the men's dorms towards the bisons' nest. Wen watched her run, the same woman she'd saved on the ship, until she was completely out of sight.

"Oh Spirits...!" She suddenly whispered, taking off back towards her own room, terrified tears streaming down her hollow cheeks.


	9. Two Daughters

**Quickly, I'd like to say thank you to every one who's been reading and keeping us with this. We've still got a little ways to go, but the story is slowly drawing to a close. Please, enjoy these last few chapters and remember to review! I love hearing your comments :) Thanks again!**

* * *

Katara walked with a sluggish gait to the infirmary, her stomach growling. The baby was getting hungrier every day, and even though Katara was only a few months along she swore that she already feel it kicking. It was a cold, gray day. The trees shivered with every gust of wind and dropped leaves by the pound. The bay churned with eager waves, filling the dead air with white noise. Maybe it would rain later. The usually drab infirmary seemed almost welcoming compared to the plaza, and Katara rushed in with one final shiver.

"Good morning!" An acolyte called with a wave from behind a small counter. Her brown eyes were extremely warm in the dim light as she crushed a bunch of herbs in a small porcelain mortar.

"Oh-good morning!" Katara answered caught slightly off her guard. She sloughed off her fur lined coat and hung it on a hook by the door. "What's for breakfast?"

"Well, we only have a few patients left so I thought I'd make something special." She answered with a soft smile. Her name was Taeyung-one of the original air-acolytes. Incredibly soft spoken, she surprised Katara when ten years earlier she asked if she could lead a development group to create this infirmary. At first it was just for the bison who, after flying the longg journey from the far east, were tired and usually injured, but as the years pressed on and more people flocked to the island it became necessary for the doctors to learn human medical care as well. Taeyung turned out to be a quick learner and a brilliant teacher-Katara's favorite pupil.

"Great. In the kitchen?" Katara asked.

Taeyung nodded.

"What are you making now?" She asked quickly, leaning over the counter to peer into the mortar. The paste was dark green and extremely aromatic.

"Restocking ointments," she said simply.

"You didn't have to do that."

She shrugged and smiled, "It needed to be done."

"...kitchen, right?" Katara asked again, brushing past a nodding Taeyung down the hallway. She passed a utility closet before pushing open a plain wooden door and being hit with warm, spicy smells. The kitchen was a tiny, simple room with a sink, a pantry and a few gas stovetops. A pot of juk sat steaming on the stove, spiced with what smelled like cinnamon and cloves. The baby curled and rolled in her belly. Carefully she grabbed a small bowl and ladled in the soft rice until it was full. Sprinkling a little extra cinnamon on top she grabbed a spoon and headed back out into the hallway, Katil's room only a few doors down-

The horrible clamor that the bowl made as it fell and shattered on the tile startled no one in the room.

"Z...?"

"She's gone." Zuko answered, pulling his haggard face out of his hands.

"_What did you do?_"

Wen, for lack of anything to do that morning, was sitting in the rock garden when a bison carrying the team flew into the nest. Popping out of her doze she jumped to her feet and hopped up to the ledge. The bison nest was a low hanging ledge on the far side of the island dusted with hay and oats. The large barn sloped heavily, but was tall and strong built. Almost twelve full grown bison were napping under its roof, their twenty or so pups milling about the grounds and courses built for their purposes. Appa, Aang's long-time companion, was the first to wake up and greet the returning party. Suki, Ty Lee, and Nanuk all slid out of young Jiji's saddle with ease, intact and unharmed.

Wen turned back and headed for the main building. Aang and Sokka were seated at a far table, drinking small cups of tea when she came bursting through the door.

"They're back!" She nearly yelled, "They're all back!"

Lunch was rushed to meet them at the door. Wen's first impression of their condition wasn't totally correct-Ty Lee had a small accidental cut on her arm, but Katara had her fixed up before soup could be served. Sokka met his wife outside of the main building, throwing his long, muscular arms around her and squeezing her tight, murmuring over and over again 'thank you, thank you!' into her soft neck.

Wen greeted Nanuk with a tight hug when he finally arrived, his face sallow and tired. He hugged her back.

"You're okay!" She exclaimed quietly, her eyes wet.

"Was there ever any doubt?" He asked with a sarcastic grin.

Wen wiped her eyes and shook her head.

"I thought for sure you'd still be mad." He admitted as she led him to the table.

"I wasn't mad!" She asserted, taking a spoonful of the soup and shoveling it into her mouth. It was thick and warm. He rolled his eyes.

"Where's Zuko?" Toph asked.

"Here," Everyone turned around. The Fire Lord stood white as a ghost in long pants a thin shirt and a thick, burgundy cloak. He took the cloak off of his shoulders and took a seat at the far corner away from Katara and away from Wen.

"So?" Sokka suddenly asked, pushing aside his soup.

"Can't this wait?" Aang (happy just to have everyone home) asked with a pleading look.

"No. We need to keep on the offensive. The quicker we're all informed the quicker we can get planning and the quicker we can get this mess resolved."

Aang sighed, setting his bowl aside as well.

Nanuk picked up a large satchel he'd come in carrying and threw it on the table with a dramatic _clunk_. "Maps and records," he said simply. "Complete records of every girl taken and sold since three months ago. Name, pick up location and date, ship number, and selling location and date."

Sokka's face broke into a huge grin. He jumped onto his feet, "Nanuk that's _incredible_! Do you know what this means?" He asked, looking around the table, "We can now effectively find, identify, and arrest every Trader operation within the city in one fell swoop-they won't even have time to alert the others! Then the Fire Nation and Earth Kingdom can eliminate the pick up points internally. In the meantime, those girls still being sent to be sold will fall right into our laps! We'll arrest the sailors at port, rescue and rehabilitate the women-we just need to cross reference through those documents-a one or two day job-and we've done it!" He yelled, nearly jumping up and down from the excitement.

Katara exhaled, "I can't wait for this to be over," she admitted with a small smile, giving little Kya next to her a small squeeze.

"I-" he stopped for a moment, "I'm going to start now!" Sokka suddenly exclaimed, grabbing his bowl, a piece of bread, and the satchel off of the table.

"S-Sokka!" Suki called after him, but he was gone with a mission. "Sokka..." She said quietly, shaking her head with a smile. They laughed.

Zuko just got a bit paler.

"There is one thing, though," Nanuk began with a grave tone. "While I was doing the rubbings, I saw the name of a girl they had taken from the Earth Kingdom." They looked up expectantly. "Hualing Bei Fong,"

Toph's spoon clattered on the table. "You read it wrong."

"Toph, I'm sorry-"

"YOU'RE WRONG!" She shouted, bursting up from the table and storming out the back door. Suki and Ty Lee exchanged looks, but neither went after her.

Nanuk sighed heavily. Wen laced her fingers with his under the table.

"What's the situation, Nanuk?" Aang asked solemnly.

"She's being brought in on what seems like one of their largest ships. Zero zero zero two. From what little I got to see I'd think that there are at least two hundred girls on that ship." He added.

Aang nodded, placing his hands gingerly on the table. "When is the arrival date?"

"The sell date has been set for two days from now."

"So they're arriving tomorrow."

"Yes. So are the two other ships."

Aang heaved yet another weighty sigh. Katara put her hand on his thigh gently. "We'll have to send out more teams." He surrendered.

Zuko finally looked up.

"But, we'll talk about this later. Feel free to take your lunch with you-the atmosphere here is...admittedly dingy." He said with a small chuckle and a nod at Ty Lee. She took the invitation and popped up out of her seat.

"Join me for lunch, Suki? I need to fill you in on everything happening on Kyoshi!" She exclaimed. Suki laughed and nodded, grabbing their meals and following her out of the door.

"It's time for Kya's nap." Aang announced, pulling his daughter into his arms and walking gingerly to their living space through the west door.

"We'll go, too," Nanuk said standing up. Wen gave him a look, but grabbed her bowl and stood up, too. "It's been awhile since we've done any real work." He excused, leading her out of the door to the plaza.

It was just Zuko and Katara left, now.

She watched him from the across the table as he stared into his soup, his usually bright eyes glazed and blank. She got up slowly, one hand on her swelling belly, and walked around the table to sit next to him. "Zuko...I'm not angry."

He didn't answer.

"I was angry before...I just need to know what happened."

Still, he was quiet. Both hands on the table, he pushed himself onto his feet.

"Where are you going?"

"To find her-"

Katara grabbed him by the pant leg and yanked him back on the ground. "Don't be ridiculous-!"

"I'm not joking, Katara." He snapped, brushing her off and getting back up. He grabbed his cloak, wrapped it around his shoulders and started heading for the door.

"Zuko?" He didn't stop. "ZUKO!" She shouted, slowly clambering to her feet. Still, he didn't stop. In one quick motion she snatched the water from the few tea cups sitting on the table and wrapped it around his forearm, twisting him all the way around to face her. She flicked her hand down then pulsed her tendons, freezing his feet to the floor. "Zuko, listen to me. You have a daughter-"

"I HAVE _TWO _DAUGHTERS!" Zuko roared, the ice melting into sad puddles and soaking into the soles of his leather shoes. Katara flinched. "I have two daughters...that will never know their mothers...unless I do something." He turned again to go.

"And what happens when you don't find her?" Katara fired back, walking as fast as she could around the table to face him. He froze. "Are you just going to keep searching for her forever? Leaving your _two daughters_ not only without their mothers but without their _father_ as well?"

He stared at the ground.

"Do you have any idea where she's gone? Any at all?"

"..."

"That's what I thought. Now you're going to sit down right here and tell me what happened last night. Maybe then we can try and puzzle through this mess together." She snapped.

He turned slowly to look at her, and a shiver ran down her spine. His gaze was cold and steely, but his shoulders were trembling. Katara bit her lip, and suddenly lunged forward, throwing her arms around her old friend and squeezing him tightly.

"...I..." he whispered, his voice nearly breaking, "I asked her to marry me."

"Oh, _Zuko_..."

"So, I thought we could start on derivatives-"

"You really meant we were going to work?" Wen whined, wrapping her thin coat tighter around her. She and Nanuk were out at the lagoon, though it was far from their usual study date. The sky was still as grey and formidable as before, but the temperature had already dropped considerably, and Wen could swear she felt rain starting to tickle the backs of her legs.

Nanuk patted the ground next to him, and she sat down in the cool sand. Nanuk held his hand out towards the waves, pulled a thick stream of water towards him and Wen and waved his arm over their heads. The water swooped over them and froze into a spacious little half igloo.

"What did you think I meant?" Nanuk asked with a small smile, setting the pad of paper and pencils he'd brought down beside him. His dark skin glowed under the ice, his blue eyes piercing. His gaze and grin gave Wen a deep shiver, and she blushed.

"I-I don't know..." She giggled, wrapping the coat even tighter around her.

"Are you cold?" Nanuk asked softly, his voice taking on an even...sultry tone.

Wen's eyes flicked to his, but then quickly back to her knees. She nodded.

"Here..." he slid her coat off of her shoulders, never taking his eyes off of hers. Her face was beet red, but his was calm and focused, sharp cheekbones glinting in the ice filtered light. He pulled her into his lap, his thick, muscled, tattooed arms wrapped tightly around her lithe frame, his long, solid legs enveloping her. He brushed a loose piece of choppy black hair out of her face and behind her ear, "You're beautiful when you blush."

"You're...nice looking," she tried.

"Oh, thanks."

"Ooooh you know what I-"

He kissed her softly at first, then snaked a hand under her hair and pulled her in deeper, his other hand caressing her body. She moaned quietly as he turned his tongue in her mouth once, reached under her shirt and pinched her nipple lightly, and rolled them over. He broke away for a moment to brush his dreds to the side. Her chest was heaving up and down, her face flushed. Damn it, she was cute. He leaned over to kiss her again-

"Nanuk, wait..." she said, sort of trying to stop him. He kissed and sucked and nipped at her neck, sending more of those stirring shivers flying all over her body. Just a bit longer...one more kiss, one more touch and then...and then...! "Nanuk!" She chirped, pushing him away.

"W-what?" Nanuk stammered, his expression flustered. "What's wrong?" He huffed.

She sat up, trying to pat her hair back into place, "N-nothing, nothing-sorry, it's just I...I don't know if I can do this...right now...I guess-I mean-I'm sorry it's just all of this stuff with my mother and your m-" she froze.

Nanuk's once soft gaze turned steely, "_My what_?" He demanded.

"N-Nanuk, I'm…I'm so sorry-"

He turned away from her and shot out of the igloo.

"NANUK-!"

He flicked his wrist and the ice ceiling melted right over her head, soaking her to the bone. Wen snapped.

Nanuk dodged to the left as a fire blast nearly took his head out. He whipped around. A literally steaming Wen was making a beeline right for him. "What the _FUCK_?!"

"_I could ask YOU the same thing!_" Nanuk yelled, "_Who gave you permission to go through my shit, HUH?!_"

Wen froze.

"This is your problem! You don't respect _anyone's privacy_! You think..._you_ think that you can just do whatever you want with zero consequences like this whole world is your _fucking playground_!"

They both stood there in stunned silence, their chests heaving up and down in sync. Wen couldn't find the words to say. Nanuk couldn't find any more.

Wen, holding her arms tight to her side, suddenly ducked her head and dashed past him up the ridge.

"W-Wen!" Nanuk called after her. She picked up her speed. "WEN!" He shouted, but she was long gone.

Sokka worked like lighting, comparing dates, jotting down figures, compiling statistics like his life depended on it. Still, he'd only made it past page two before Toph came bursting in through his bedroom door-

"_Sokka_." She snapped, grabbing him up by the collar and wrenching him out of his chair.

"Fu-_Toph!_ What are you doing-?"

"Find Hualing."

"Hauling...?"

"In the _records_." She growled, throwing him back down in the chair.

"Can't say my sister isn't a good healer..." He grumbled, rubbing his neck and turning back to the records. "So who is Hua-"

"_Less talking more reading._" She smacked him across the head.

"OKAY, _okay_! Just quit hitting me! Crazy..." He scanned the first few pages, then the next. She was among the most recent entries. "Hualing...Bei Fong. Right here." He whispered solemnly. "Toph..."

"When was she taken?" Toph asked, leaning on his shoulder over the desk if as though to get a better look. "She sent me a letter by falcon two weeks ago-if the date's any time be-"

"Eleven days ago," Sokka interrupted.

Toph deflated. "Hualing..." she whispered quietly. "They took my sister. They took my sister eleven days ago...you heard Katil-they drugged her-they _fucked_ her-they sold her over and over again-I swear to every fucking spirit if they touch Hualing I'll kill all of them...I'LL KILL EVERY _FUCKING_ ONE OF YOU!" She screamed, slamming her fist against the table.

"Toph..." Sokka tried, putting his hand on her shoulder, "We're going to get her back-"

"Sokka, she's only twelve. She's only twelve..." She sobbed, falling on to Sokka's chest. He held her softly, stroking her silky, black hair and running his hand gently down her back.

"I'll go with you," he said suddenly. Her face popped up. "I'm going to help you get your little sister back. We'll get Hualing back, I promise. I promise. I promise. " He whispered again and again, placing a soft, reassuring kiss on her forehead and rocking her slowly, gently into a soft cry.

"Alpha: Toph and I, Beta: Suki and Ty Lee, Delta: Wen and Nanuk, Gamma: Zuko and Aang." Sokka read off, nodding his head at each pair. It was the night of the mission. _The_ night. The night they were going to rescue Hualing. The night they were going to kill Captain Yeh and the other bosses. The night they would avenge Katil and the other women broken and exploited by this disgusting organization. Tonight was _the_ night.

"No." Zuko said sharply. All eyes in the barn turned to him. "I'm going with Wen."

"Their team has proven successful in the past," Aang reasoned, "and we know how to fight together-"

"I don't care." Zuko said sternly, taking a step towards his daughter. Wen looked away.

"Don't worry, Fire Lord," Nanuk assured him solemnly, "I'll take care of your daughter."

Zuko shot him a knowing glare, but Nanuk was unfazed.

"So that settles it." Sokka said, closing his notebook with a snap. "Alpha and Beta will ride Jiji to location A, and Delta and Gamma will take Appa to location B. We'll all meet together at location C by dawn tomorrow." He put a strong hand on the handle of his machete, "Let's end this."


	10. Princess Wen

Location B was code for a small forest clearing just outside of the city and about a mile from the western port. A cold, foggy night shrouded their descent. Appa came down with a soft _thud_ on the grass, and the four benders slid down his tail to the ground with relative ease.

"You know which ship you're headed to?" Aang asked.

Nanuk nodded.

"Good luck," Aang offered to both Wen and Nanuk.

Zuko suddenly appeared behind Aang, and walked up to awkwardly embrace his daugher. "Be safe," he whispered.

"I will," she answered.

They parted ways.

Nanuk and Wen walked briskly from the clearing towards the northern side of the port, salt filling their nostrils. While on their first mission the southern port had been nearly empty, this port was still bustling at this late hour, crates of goods being loaded on and off huge, bulk carriers. The pair hid in the brush twenty yards from the dock. At the first sign of an opening, they dashed down the dock between two of the massive ships, and dove into the water. Nanuk wrapped an arm around Wen and rocketted them under the hull of ship 0023. Quickly finding an optimal spot, he froze the metal and pierced it with two strong punches. The low pressure sucked them into the whole.

Clambering onto their feet, Toph and Sokka took a quick look around. The hull of ship 0002 was shallower than they expected. The be honest, the whole ship was smaller than they expected. Sokka nearly took a moment to contemplate, but Toph was already sprinting for the stairs.

She kicked the door open with a loud bang.

"Oh..." Ty Lee whispered, frozen in the doorway. The sound of a hard punch and the thudding of a falling body echoed in the stairwell behind her.

"Ty Lee, what's...?" Suki trailed off as she stepped into the doorway, too. There must have been fifty...a hundred...!

"Kids," Aang growled, clenching his fist. Zuko quickly grabbed him and pulled him behind a set of barrels as a guard came around to check on the captives. "I thought they just took Hualing as a ransom-"

"Not now." Zuko whispered harshly as the guard started heading in the direction of their barrels. Zuko quietly pulled a small knife out of his belt. When the guard was close enough, Zuko grabbed him by the scalp and cut his throat, covering his mouth to stifle the sound.

"_Shhh!_" Sokka pleaded as he dropped the guard's body to the ground. The five conscious women that watched him open up that guard reluctantly closed their mouths. "_We're here to help you!_" He stepped over the nearest woman: a sallow, grey, thick skinned lady with short, matted hair. He cut the ropes around her wrists with a large hunting knife. "Now, I'm cutting these ropes, but I want you to stay here. My name is Sokka, I'm a member of the Republic City Council. We'll have metal benders here to bring you to a safe house in less than an hour-"

"_Have you seen a little girl?_" Toph demanded. The woman, older, her hair already greying, shook her head as fast as she could.

"There's no little girl here, I promise, I promise!" She pleaded.

"_Toph!_" Sokka snapped, grabbing her shoulder. "You have to calm down-"

"Don't tell me what to do!"

"Calm down, or I'll make you." Sokka warned. Toph shrugged her shoulder out of his grasp. "I told you, we're going to find her."

"There's...no one here." Wen whispered, staring into the empty cargo hold.

Nanuk walked right past her, throwing open doors, making a racket. No women, no guards, no sailors, no _nothing_.

"This can't be right." Sokka murmured. This was ship 0002. Hualing was supposed to be on this ship. _Where was Hualing?_ "We need to get to the captain's chambers." He said as Toph finished ripping apart what chains were holding the more unruly women to the floor. She nodded. They headed up another set of stairs together and slowly lifted the trap door to the deck. Four sailors were milling about. Toph lifted a hand slowly. Four screws twisted from the deck in slow, malicious rhythm. Winding back she flung the four screws right into the backs of the four sailors heads. They dropped like flies.

"Alright, this way!" Suki said, leading the children out onto deck one after the other. The metal benders had arrived at their location quicker than they expected, but it was definitely a welcome sight. A few policemen were now on board, dragging the unconscious and/or jelly-limbed bodies of the Trader sailors back to their cars, but Suki and Ty Lee were keeping them away from the kids for now. One policeman had tried to help a girl up, and she'd instantly broken into tears. Suki grabbed her up and held her tight, promising her that everything was going to be okay now, but she couldn't get the little girl to calm down.

"How awful..." Ty Lee whispered aside to Suki, taking up the rear in the precession.

"Unforgivable."

Zuko ground his teeth in agreement as he melted through the ropes binding an eight year old's arms together behind her back.

"_Please...no..._" she whispered, shaking, tears running down her face. Zuko said nothing, and moved on to the next little girl. Aang floated down the stairs from the deck, returning from neutralizing the ship to help Zuko free the captives. He pulled a sliver of water from the moist floor and cut right through eight lined up metal chains. Then, one by one, he followed Zuko's lead and began melting thick binding ropes and ripping them apart...

"A-are you...the Avatar?" A little girl whispered. Aang looked up into her face. She was older than most of the girls, tall and strong built. Her straight black hair fell in her face, nearly eclipsing her pale green eyes. She was so pale that you could see little blue veins crisscrossing on her neck and cheeks. Her thin, blue lips were chapped and bleeding. Her body was covered in scrapes and bruises. Aang put on his best smile.

"Yes, I am," he answered her, ripping apart her bindings. She crumpled for a moment, almost falling onto her forearms before he caught her and helped her back up.

"D-do you know...my sister?" She asked weakly.

"...you're Hualing." He suddenly pieced together, his pale brown eyes meeting Zuko's from across the ship. "Oh, no..."

"_We've been set up!_" Sokka yelled-

Toph flew back into Sokka's chest, slamming him into the far wall as planks and shards of wood crashed into their bodies. Fire was roaring on deck- "We have to get the prisoners out!" Sokka shouted over the flames, pushing a beam off of them and helping Toph to her feet. They ran through the haardous hole that used to be the door and jumped into the trap door towards the cargo hold.

Sokka had one arm around Toph and one arm over her head as lit chunks of wood fell from above-

"There's no one here!"

"That's impossible!"

"Well it's _true_!" She shouted, grabbing him by the collar and yanking him back as a huge beam crashed at his feet, "Now let's get out of here!"

"This place is coming down!" Zuko yelled.

Aang grabbed Hualing under the arms and lifted her into the air. "Try and put out this fire-!" Aang threw his arm out and blew away a falling beam. "I'm going to get them out!" He thrusted his arm towards the wall of the a huge blast of air smashed through the wooden paneling. Zuko danced around the screaming kids and planned his feet at the head of the fire. He held two hands out and inhaled deeply. As he exhaled and lowered his arms the fire steadily descendended. Aang stomped heavily on the floor, raising a pillar of earth from the sea and up to the opening in the ship. "I needevery one through the wholeqn he yelled at the kids. There wide, terrified eyes looked at Hualing first, but they quickly got up and scrambled on to the pillar.

"Is that all of them?!" Zuko called.

"Yes!"

The rock pillar cracked. Aang whipped around, but his eyes landed on a group of metalbenders at the docks. The kids rose in the air and started floating towards the shore-

"HHHAAAAAAAUUUGGHHH!" Zuko yelled pivoting on his foot and launching a massive fire blast to the docks.

Aang reacted quickly, catching the kids mid-fall, Hualing latched onto his thigh. "_What are you doing_?!"

"Saving those kids!" Zuko yelled, drawing his broad swords and rocketting himself out of the crumbling ship. Aang looked back at the men herring back on their feet. Zuko was right. In the moonlight, their dark outfits were flat and dull. Real armor would have shone like crazy-they may look like Toph's men, but those were definitely not metal benders!

"Oh _REALLY_?" Suki snapped as she reached through the open right window of a truck, grabbed the driver by the back of the head, and smashing his face into the steering wheel. She whipped around, nailing another man in the side of the head with the back of her foot. She flipped herself onto the hood, then leapt onto the roof of the truck, running along the top and jumping off the back right on to the heads of two men in the middle of trying to lock up the bed. She flung the doors to the truck open. Twenty cowering children were inside.

"SUKI! TAKE THIS ONE!" Ty Lee suddenly shouted. Suki nodded, sprinting to the next parked truck as the Traders were scrambling to get it functioning. Ty Lee took off instead after the truck that had begun to get away. She climbed like a spider up the side of the nearest building, racing along its bricked edge, following the truck deeper into Republic City. Ty Lee picked up speed, leaping onto a powerline and skating over the middle of the road and leaping onto the top of the truck.

From the high ground, Zuko fired rapidly at the large host of Traders at his feet. A water bender whipped a stream towards his face. He ducked, punching a blast at his exposed chest and leaping at his next target before his victim could clear the dock. He clashed swords with a much larger, burly man. He pushed, and the man pushed back-Zuko was almost overtaken when Aang launched him into the nearest building. To earth benders pushed pillars towards the two men but they easily dodged, spiraling a massive ball of flame and shooting it at their aggressors with rage filled yells. Zuko landed hard on his feet, sprinting towards the nearest truck, slashing its tires with his blades, and smashing a charger's head into the side of the truck. Aang pulled a huge wave of water from the bay and flooded the port, trapping the rest of the conscious men in a huge ice case.

"Can you get the kids to safety?" Zuko asked, sheathing his swords.

"Zuko, what are you-?"

"I need to find Wen."

Aang looked at him for a moment. "Go."

Zuko nodded, and quickly turned tail, sprinting down the docks to the north.

Aang turned around. The kids, including Hualing, were still sitting on that pillar in the middle on the bay. Opening His glider Aang soared quickly to the pillar and landed gently. "Hang on," he said. Stomping, he widened the standing room, raising walls around the platform. He held his hands to his chest and suddenly his eyes and tattoos began to glow.

"Woah..." Hualing whispered.

He stomped again, raising the platform into the air. He tilted the front down ever so slightly, then punched into the earth, jets of flame exploding out of the bottom, propelling them over the city. He held an arm out in front bending the air around the small ship and directing them through the air. Slowly, he lifted his fist from the floor, and the firey propulsion slowly petered out and the earthen platform steadily descended. Aang jumped from the platform, whipping out his glider and soaring straight down to the ground, cracking the earth as his feet planted in the junkyard. Dropping his glider he whipped up a tunnel of wind and blew it up into the bottom of the platform, cushioning its fall and lowering it gently to the ground. The kids cheered.

Aang smiled, reaching into his robes and pulling out a small wooden bison whistle.

Zuko ran as fast as he could through the Republic City streets, thighs searing, disheveled hair whipping his face. Still, he pushed harder, praying all the while that maybe, just maybe, the ship Wen was on wouldn't be targeted...that maybe the Traders made an oversight or got lazy or...or..._just be okay, _he begged.

The truck twisted and rolled through tight alleyways and round-a-bouts, but Ty Lee had all claws in the rag top of the hold and nothing could shake her. They headed further and further north, crossing through downtown, through the nearby suburbs and into an industrial area dominated by chugging smokestacks, abandoned, stripped vehicles and sickly, stray animals. The truck rounde a corner and skidded to a stop in front of a seemingly abandoned apartment complex. The driver and passenger got out, slamming their doors. Ty Lee flattened herself on the roof.

"How many ya think made it?" One mused.

"Don' care." The other spat, "Long as I'm gettin' paid."

The doors to te hold flung open. A little girl screamed.

"Come 'ere ya little-WOOOaahmmfff!"

Ty Lee had suddenly jumped up and leapt off the top of the truck right on to the man's shoulder's taking him and his head down to the concrete with a snap-

Ty Lee crumpled to the ground. The other man, fist in the air, had bent a boulder into the back of her head. A thin, steady stream of blood trickled through her thick, brown hair.

"Bitch," the old man spat, kicking her still body hard in the stomach-

Ty Lee snapped two fingers into the bottom of the man's foot. He howled in pain, clutching his ankle as he hopped up and down.

"Y-you..." Ty Lee growled, pushing herself onto her feet with stammering arms. The porky, sluggish earth bender threw an arm out, a flourish of rocks spraying toward her. She dipped to the left, a stone slicing open her cheek. She picked up speed. He tried to put the injured foot down on the ground to run, but screamed out in pain. Ty Lee reached out and grabbed the man by the collar, wrenching his short, barrel chested body into the air. "I've been on the wrong side." Her fist suddenly fired and landed square in his fat, piggy little throat. He gasped, wriggling in her grasp, blood pouring through his lips. She dropped him hard on the ground. "and I've never seen something as pathetic-"

She jumped, dodging the foot traps coming out of the ground-

"OOFF!" A blast of fire punched her hard in the shoulder, knocking her to the ground. Scrambling to her feet, Ty Lee, fleeing a horde of Traders, took off into the hazy, spinning city, clutching her burnt shoulder. In her racing mind she struggled to memorize...to burn that image into her brain...the children, the Traders, the building...

"HUALING!" Toph cried, breaking into a hobbling run and then falling onto her knees to embrace her little sister. Tears streamed down both of their faces. Toph squeezed her even tighter. "How did this happen?" She sobbed.

Hualing buried her face in her sisters ragged, scorched hair.

"How did I ever let this happen...?"

"It's okay, Toph," Sokka whispered, putting a hand on her shoulder. Aang and Suki smiled at each other weakly. "She's okay. We're all okay. Everything is going to be okay." He promised. Toph squeezed her little sister as hard as she could one more time.

"You're okay..."

Zuko ripped his way through the brush as he approached the dock, teeth clenched, heart racing. In one instant he pushed a branch out of his way and leaped over a crate and on to the dock.

The dock was empty.

...Wen slowly blinked her eyes open, wet eyelashes fluttering in the dense, musty air. "Mmm...?" she mumbled, trying to form words. Suddenly, she gasped, gagged, then choked on the wad of cloth forced and taped into her mouth. She struggled meekly against the chains binding her wrists, legs, arms, chest, and throat to a thick metal pole. She could feel another pair of bound hands touching her lower back. They weren't moving. The room they were in was dark-nearly pitch black and it smelled awful, like stale urine and rust. Wen could hear noises: shuffling and scuffling and piercing squeals. Were those...screams? No. Metal on stone. It must've been that. A bright light burned her left eye. Wen flinched, groaning into her gag. A metal door swung open, scraping against the stone floor. No-screams. When the room finally quit spinning, Wen was left with only a dull headache to accompany her as she slowly turned her head to the doorway.

There, shrouded in golden light was the silhouette of one, tall, striking, and grinning Captain Yeh.

"So we meet again, _Princess Wen_,"


	11. It Was Over

Captain Yeh stepped slowly around the room, circling Wen and his other captive. By now she had assumed her partner in distress was Nanuk, but all of her hope rested on the fact that it wasn't. His face was sharp and weathered, his blue eyes nothing less than terrifying. Wen could've sworn his canines were two steps sharper than they should be. "Princess Wen..." he whispered, his grin spreading even wider. "It's been a while." Wen struggled fiercely against the chains. "Last time I saw you I thought you were no more than a dirty whore, but now...oh, it's different, now, isn't it?" He stepped closer, taking a knee over her shaking body and holding her chin tight in his dark, chapped hand. "Bastard daughter of Fire Lord Zuko...heh." He slapped her lightly on the cheek and reached into her blouse. From her sash, he pulled the sheathed, pearl dagger.

Wen suddenly felt the pair of lifeless hands behind her turn up and grasp hers. She exhaled solemnly. "You know, when I first saw this all I could see were gold pieces but...but Nanuk, here," He tapped Nanuk's with the blade. Tipping it to one side, he let the sheathe slip off into his other hand. The blade glinted in the hallway's light. "He saw this old thing and knew exactly who you were!" He snapped the sheath back on the blade. "Incredible! At first, I didn't believe him. It was a ridiculous notion, to be quite honest...I told him no. No reason to draw attention for some whore who'd gotten her hands on a nice dagger in between the sheets." He suddenly whipped around and lunged at her, throwing himself onto his hands and knees and pressing his nose to hers, "I was going to sell you-oh, yes, I was going to make a pretty piece off this flat chest of yours," he sneered, squeezing and shaking her breasts hard, "but!" he exclaimed, releasing her and popping back on to his feet, "but...I made the mistake of telling your dear Nanuk. He, as you know, took matters into his own hands."

Nanuk shifted in his seat, growling through his gag. Captain Yeh grabbed the pole and spun over Nanuk, ripping the tape off of his face. Nanuk choked and gagged, the soaked cloth crawling out of his throat. Yeh grabbed him by the dreds and yanked his head straight up. "Did you really think that I would just stand quietly by as you killed my men, destroyed my ship-my _cargo_?" He roared, throwing Nanuk's head back down. A booted foot sunk deep into Nanuk's stomach-

"AAUGH-"

Yeh silenced him with a hard blow to the side of the head. Nanuk's head snapped right, then hung limply. Wen screamed into her gag, ripping her fair skin as she struggled to get out of her chains.

Yeh laughed darkly. "You hear that, Nanuk? I think she loves you..." he walked back around to Wen's side, sliding the dagger back out of its sheathe. "Is that right...?" He asked, crouching down beside her. He slid the blade over her cheek, a small sliver of red opening on her face, "do you love him-?"

"YOU TOUCH HER AND-!"

"AND WHAT?" Yeh roared, whipping around and pressing the blade of the dagger to Nanuk's throat. Nanuk ground his teeth, seething. "What_ will _you do, Nanuk?"

Nanuk swallowed the lump in his throat.

"As I was saying," he snapped, standing back up. "It really wasn't hard to find you after your little escape. You know..." he laughed, "...it was almost as though you were _looking_ for us as every _little piece_ of your plan fell into place. I played along, watching you pull your little, deceitful strings, giving you false records of Fire Nation kidnappings to slip into the councilman's books, laying a treasure map at your feet. You know the one: the stack of records and maps I conveniently left on my desk that one, dark night."

Nanuk reared up and fell back onto his seat. He growled through his teeth, "You knew we were coming-"

"_Of course I knew_!" He exclaimed wildly, throwing his arms in the air. "How could I've _not_ known? Ooh, _Nanuk_!" He sighed, slowly walking over and grabbing a fistful of Wen's hair, "When did you become so _transparent_?" He pushed the edge knife deep into Wen's throat-

"PLEASE! YEH, _PLEASE_!" Nanuk screamed, nearly wrestling himself onto his feet. Yeh howled, pulling the dull edge from her throat and spinning into his laughter.

"Oh, good, _GOOD_!" He cheered, "Now, tell me-did _you_ see this coming? The incredible end to this incredibly pathetic tale? I bet right about now the Avatar and the Fire Lord and all of their little friends are piecing together fact after fact and realizing just what happened to their little pups. Soon, that twirly little Kyoshi Warrior with the fancy footwork will have finished dragging herself back to camp and will gather the rest of energy just to spit out our little hideout's location. Daddy won't waste any time coming to rescue his princess, I'm sure, so in just over an hour we'll be stormed by some of the greatest benders and warriors on the planet. Doesn't that just sound hopeless?" He cooed. "Oh, but..." He bent down over Wen once more. Her golden eyes were fiery and blunt, her face flushed. Yeh grazed her cut cheek with the side of his hand, took it in his palm, and kissed her forehead lightly. Lips grazing her skin, he whispered, "...we'll be long gone by then, leaving Daddy and his friends to find only their untimely ends as they're stormed by a hundred of my soldiers!" Dagger in hand, he turned on his heel and stepped quickly through the door, slamming it behind him.

"_DAMNIT!_" Nanuk yelled, banging his head against the metal pole. "_Damnit_, damnit...damnit..." he cursed, his usually strong voice devolving into a crumbling whimper. "Fuck..." he whispered, hanging his head low. "Fuck, Wen, I am so sorry..." he sputtered, shaking his head, "I should've never...I should've...Spirits, I should've done everything different what is _wrong_ with me?"

Wen hummed behind her gag.

"And...and I shouldn't...have yelled at you yesterday." He deflated, "I should've been more upfront with you about who I am-"

"Hekgh-_blegh_!" Wen coughed, gagging and spitting out the ashy, glowing remains of her gag.

"Wen?"

"N-no...I shouldn't have-_herkblegh_-gone through your things..." She choked through stinging tears.

"How did you get your gag off?"

"Chewed right through it," she chuckled with a sickly grin, crisp burnt edges of the tape slowly peeling away from the corners of her mouth. She laced her fingers through his as best she could, "Nanuk, I really am sorry, I was being stupid-"

"No-"

"Please," she interrupted gently. "I was upset. I was jealous that they picked you for the mission, and on a random urge I went to your room. I saw the lock box, and...I was acting like a child, just like you said."

They were quiet for a moment. Their fingers twisted around each others and squeezed here and there. Nanuk sat up and rested against the metal pole, his blue eyes trained towards the ceiling as he let out a heavy sigh.

"I was fourteen when they came for her," he began, squeezing her fingers especially hard. "Mom came into my room one morning and said we were leaving. Dad wasn't around-it was just the two of us. Within an hour we were on a ship from the Northern Water Tribe to Omashu. I asked her why we were leaving-where we were going-but she wouldn't answer. We found a small apartment, settled in. I made some new friends, she found work-at least I assumed. We always had money and Mom seemed happy so I never really questioned anything. I forgot about the Northern Water Tribe, about our sudden departure. And then one morning I woke up...and the apartment was empty. There was a note on the counter. It said, 'be back for dinner'. Nothing else. Mom had done this a few times before so I wasn't worried. Not until I went to bed that night and she still hadn't come home. A month later she was still missing. They kicked me out of the apartment. I started rooting through garbage cans for food-eventually started stealing just to get a decent meal in once a day. I thought I was pretty good at it so I got greedy. Started stealing wallets, bags, anything I could get my hands on. I got caught. They let me off with a warning. When I got caught again they threatened to give me jailtime, burn the mark of a thief into my wrist but a man saved me. Yeh saved me. He was a respected sailor and trader in Omashu-very wealthy. Said he could use me as a deckhand and bought me for fifty silver pieces. Yeh kept me close, even let me sleep on the floor of his quarters. We were very alike, he'd tell me. Two Northern-Tribe-water-bending orphans exploring and exploiting the seas, he'd say. It took me two years to figure out what he really meant. At first I was angry about the trafficking, but Yeh had a way of reassuring me...I don't know. I can't explain it. A year later I was in his quarters sweeping up...and I got curious. I went looking through some of the records, reading profiles of the best sellers and product...I found my mother's name."

"They sold her?"

He shook his head, "She was the one selling. Drugs, mostly. I don't know how the cousin of Katara and Sokka got wrapped up in all of it, but she did. Probably had something to do with my dad. I really don't know. I confronted Yeh about it...well, I _attacked_ him about it. He beat me quickly...told me my Mom was the best drug pusher he'd ever employed. He brought her-us-to Omashu, the big leagues, but she was a sharp woman and she found out about the sex trafficking pretty quick. Unlike me, no matter how hard Yeh tried to persuade her, she wouldn't stand for it. They threatened her life. They threatened mine. And then one day...she was gone." Suddenly, he began to sputter again, "I-I _loved_ my mother." He admitted, "So after Yeh told me what happened, I started to see the wrongs...the evils that he, that we, that _I_ was committing by just sitting back. I tried to save ten, twenty girls before you...but Yeh always got the better of me. By the time I was nineteen I'd given up. But then we found you hiding in that apple crate!" He laughed darkly. "I don't know how I recognized that dagger...Katara must've told me about it once in passing when I was much younger...but I knew when I saw you: you were my ticket...my _mother's_ ticket to redemption." He finished with a heavy sigh and a squeeze of the fingers. "I didn't want anyone to know that part of her...she was too good for that." He shook his head again, letting it hang, "Fuck-Wen I'm _so sorry_-"

"Nanuk, you _saved_ me." She insisted, letting go of his hands and wrapping her fingers around the chains as best she could, "If it wasn't for you-tssssss-if it wasn't-nnnnnugh!"

"Wen, what are you-?"

"If it wasn't for you-aaaugggh-I'd've probably killed myself by now." She admitted with a sick chuckle through gritted teeth, shaking off the expanded chains from her bubbling wrists.

"Wen, what's going on? Are you hurt?"

"I'm fine!" She gasped, pulling that specially kept pin out of her hair and snapping it in half, jimmying her way out of the rest of her bindings.

"Are you getting loose?" Nanuk demanded, trying to turn around and see what's going on. Wen sloughed the chains off of her body.

"Yeah, I'm good!" She exclaimed in a sudden whisper, coming over to his side.

"What? How did you...? Your wrists..."

"Metal expands with heat." She explained casually, grinding her molars to block out the pain as she quickly picked the padlocks holding Nanuk in place.

"It'll scar."

"I've live." She smiled, pulling the loops of chains off of him and tossing them on the floor. She took him by the hand and helped pull him onto his feet. "We need to get out of here."

"Obviously."

"But first I need my dagger back."

He grinned, "Obviously."

She grinned back. "Okay, then let's get going!"

He grabbed her arm, "Wait, Wen."

She turned back to him, "What?"

In one, swift motion he took her face in his hands and pulled her soft, pouting lips to his. He kissed her hard and long, pressing his nose to hers, his body to hers. Their lips parted, just barely-just enough room for him to whisper, "I love you, Wen."

Her heart stopped.

"I love you," he repeated, kissing her softly.

"I..." she began, her golden eyes wide...her golden eyes...sincere, "I love you, too."

"SHE'S GONE!" Zuko roared, bursting into the junkyard.

Toph pulled away from Hualing, "What?"

"The ship that Wen was on IT'S GONE!" His glare was killer as it set on Sokka. He drew his swords.

"Zuko-!" Aang cautioned.

Two twin blades crossed over Sokka's jugular, his face somber. "_If you hadn't put her on this FUCKED UP MISSION she'd still be-"_

"_Zuko_." Aang grabbed his shoulder, but Zuko shook him off with a scowl. "You need to calm down."

"Don't you tell me to calm down. I didn't send _Kaya_ to the-"

"_Don't you dare bring Kaya into this_."

"I bring whoever's goddamn daughter I want into this!"

"GUYS!" Toph yelled, standing up. The Fire Lord and the Avatar glared at each other for a moment, but Zuko quickly turned away.

Sokka slowly stepped forward. "Zuko...I'm sorry-"

Zuko sheathed his swords decisively. "I'm going to find her."

Sokka tried gingerly, "Zuko, I know you're upset-"

"I'm going to find her and that's _final_." Zuko started walking.

"You have no idea where she is," Aang reminded him, his tone slightly biting.

"Does it look like I give a shit?"

Sokka went after him, "Zuko, the quickest way w-"

"The only reason I'm not cutting you down where you stand is because of our past friendship." Zuko growled, "But open your fucking mouth again and I'll-"

A little girl screamed. At her feet was the exhausted, burnt, bleeding body of Ty Lee, her chest barely rising up and down as she labored through her breaths.

"Ty Lee!" Suki yelled, running over.

"Shit..." Sokka mumbled.

Suki knelt down next to her and rolled her head into her lap. Warm blood soaked through her crisp hair and into Suki's palm. "You're hurt..."

"T-the industrial...zone..." Ty Lee wheezed.

"Shhh," Suki whispered, caressing her cheek, "save your energy."

Ty Lee shook her head weakly, "They're keeping...the children...industrial...a building...steel mill...they..." her voice slowly lost vigor.

"Ty Lee?" Suki asked, "TY LEE!" She screamed, shaking her.

Aang stopped her, "I'll take her back to Katara," he said. She looked up at him, her big, brown eyes beginning to water. "She'll be just fine." Suki turned back to her unconscious friend and nodded slowly, wiping her eyes. Sliding her arms under her body she carefully lifted her off the ground and handed her to Aang, who gave Toph a glance.

"Okay, everyone on the bison!" She called, giving her sister a light push. Appa gave a reassuring yawn, thumping his wide tail softly on the ground. Aang leapt easily into the saddle and laid Ty Lee on her back near the front. Sokka followed, taking a seat by her. He looked at his wife solemnly. He and she both knew what she was going to do. There was no point in talking.

"C'mon," Zuko said darkly, turning back towards the north. Suki followed.

Footsteps echoed down the hallway.

"The irony, am I right?"

"Get behind me." Nanuk told her, positioning them at the hinges of the metal door.

"You two ready to-huh?-OOF!"The goon grunted as a fist knocked him square in the jaw and sent him flying to the ground.

"C'mon!" Nanuk grabbed Wen's arm and pulled her through the door, slamming it shut behind them. They raced down the empty hallway, turned a corner, up a flight of stairs.

"Do you know where you're going?!" Wen asked.

"Yes-!" Nanuk grabbed Wen and threw them both into a corner, holding her to his chest. Two men were at the end of the hall, chatting.

"Can you take them out?" Wen whispered.

"I need water."

"Well, I'm dripping with sweat!"

"That's disgusting-"

"You hear something?" One of the men asked. Wen lifted an arm eagerly. Nanuk winced.

"I swore I heard something-_blehck_!" A thin, icy needle pierced his, and his friend right between the eyes.

Wen grinned, holding up a hand for a high five. Nanuk rolled his eyes. "C'mon, we've got to keep...moving."

"So much for being subtle." Wen shrugged, staring down five sun soaked and angry men at the end of the hallway. One of them cracked their knuckles.

"That guy's got a pouch of water."

Wen punched her palm. "Let's do this." She fell to the ground and whipped her leg out, unleashing waves of fire towards the other end of the hall. One grizzly man pushed through the wave floating the fire up the walls right until Nanuk's heel came in contact with his massive, gnarly nose. Another man bent a whip of water at him but Nanuk redirected it, yanking the man off of his feet. Behind him, Wen sent out a flurry of fire, giving Nanuk enough of a distraction to take the rest out.

"Think we got 'em all-?"

Nanuk grabbed her by the shirt and wrenched her backward. A huge wall of stone ripped down the hallway and through the opposite wall. "This way!" Nanuk yelled, grabbing her arm and pulling her through the hole outside. Wen hastily shot a blast of fire at their pursuers-four or five men were hot on their tails. The pair rounded the corner of the building, sharp stickers piercing through the flimsy soles of their soaked shoes. There was a fire escape on the side of the building. "Keep 'em busy!" Nanuk yelled. Wen whipped around and, inhaling, raised a sturdy wall of flame and pushed it towards their pursuers. A fire bender peeled right through it, but Wen was already in the air, landing her heel on the side of his head. A stream of water punched her hard in the gut and froze her to the ground, but she melted it off and rolled away just before a boulder crushed her head. Suddenly a huge stream of water rose from the grass and knocked the horde off their feet and into the adjacent building. Wen took the chance to get up and sprint for the fire escape, the ladder to which Nanuk has just pulled down. They climbed as fast as they could, and dove into a second story window, a blast of fire singeing their shadows.

Zuko ground his teeth. "AAARGH!" He screamed, fire erupting from his mouth, "Where the hell is this place-?!"

They both jumped slightly at the sound of an explosion just around the otherside of the steel mill. Without even a look they took off, diving behind the corner of the nearest building just as the dust was settling. A large hole was punched out of the near wall, and five men were running out and rounding the corner.

_Wen_! Zuko's mind screamed as he watched his daughter advance on the five men. As she was knocked to the ground he exploded from his position, suddenly diving to the right as Nanuk sent all of them crashing into the wall he and Suki were hiding behind. Nanuk and Wen scrambled up the fire escape and dove into a side window just barely dodging a blast of fire shot just off target as Suki threw her body into the enemy fire bender, knocking them both to the ground. The other four attackers crawled out of the rubble. Zuko drew his swords and charged, slicing one unexpecting throat before narrowly dodging a thrown boulder and rolling hard to the right. Suki jumped up onto bent knees, the fire bender acting in suit. He fired one-two-three blasts. Each, she dodged, but gained no ground. Glancing up there was a metal rod sticking out of a cracked piece of the building's roof. She dove, leapt, then caught the rod and yanked.

"AAUG-!"

The ceiling collapsed on the firebender. Landing on her feet, Suki didn't look back and ran to Zuko. He was caught in a losing battle against the remaining three benders, and in one move she slid and knocked a water bender off his feet, the tube of water binding Zuko's arms falling limply at his feet. He flashed his swords with a roar and slashed the air, arcing fire blasts ripping through the two standing benders. Without pausing he sheathed his blades, grabbed Suki by the sleeve and was running for the fire escape-

Hitting the ground in a hard roll, Wen was back in a sprint first, dragging Nanuk up behind her. He took the lead, running down the hall and through a rusted metal door into a dusty stairwell. It was nearly pitch black after the door slammed shut behind them, but they didn't waver. Bursting through another door two flights up, Nanuk grabbed Wen and put a finger to her mouth. She nodded. Keeping close they slunk around the corner to the far side of the building. Light footsteps. Nanuk quietly opened a closet door and they slipped inside, leaving the door barely ajar. Quicky, he undid his sash-

Wen covered her eyes, "Time and place!"

"Shut up."

A guard strolled unawares down the hallway. He was whistling. Just as he passed the closet, Nanuk looped his sash around his neck and pulled tighter and tighter until he stopped struggling. They dragged the body into the closet, closed the door, and continued.

At the far end in the middle of the hallway was another decrepit door.

"This is it."

Wen nodded. Nanuk turned the handle all of the way, then raised a hand. Three...two...one...

The door flung open and slammed against the wall, two benders poised in its opening, ready. "He's not here..." Wen said, dejected, staring into the empty, ransacked office. A broken lamp lay across a barren desk who's drawers were all ripped open, two laying upside down on the floor. Five or ten scattered papers decorated the scene. "He's gone." She whispered as Nanuk hurriedly snatched up all of the papers looking through each one.

"Nothing useful..." He seethed, throwing them on the desk. "_Damnit!_" He cursed, slamming his fist on the table. Wen stepped behind him and slowly wrapped her arms around his middle, resting her cheek on his back,

"We'll find him." She promised, kissing him softly.

Suddenly the door slammed shut and they jumped.

"It might be easier than you think."

An explosion knocked them off of their feet. "W-what the...?" Zuko swung around, spinning his legs and the dust away in a fiery blaze. His front was cut through in four places. As the haze cleared, he quickly realized he was surrounded. "Fuck," he cursed, drawing his sword and trying to shake his head clear. "Suki?" He asked suddenly.

"ATTACK!"

Zuko leapt to the left as a rolling hard and clumsily on the ground-

"KILL THE FIRE LORD!"

"FIRE!"

He jumped up, cut down one, two, three men, was knocked down again-

"CRUSH HIM!"

"KILL HIM!"

"KILL THE FIRE LORD!"

Zuko swept his leg once more, knocking the first wave off of their feet, but before he could get back up they were replaced by another hoard of bending men. Zuko dodged left, stabbed right, jumped, ducked, swiped, punched-they never thinned out. A rock crashed into his arm and he heard the bone snap. A whip of water wrapped around his ankle and threw him into an adjacent building, a large gash opening in his thigh, a piece of drywall falling and snapping his shin. He screamed, his eyes burning and his whole body throbbing. He could barely open his eyes-the world was spinning, but he could make out one form standing on the top of the fire escape, his bright grin glowing in the moonlight. With his last bit of strength, his threw out his good arm and fired a last, desperate burst of flame...

"Heuck-!"

"NANUK!" Wen screamed, watching his face turn a grave shade of blue as Yeh, brow burnt and bleeding, held a thin chain tight around his neck. "LET HIM GO!" She begged, nearly scrambling over the desk. Yeh grinned.

"As you wish,"

Nanuk's unconscious body slumped to the ground.

"N-Nanuk..." she whimpered...slowly backing against the wall.

Yeh drew her dagger from his belt. "I'll admit," he seethed, whipping the sheath from the blade and tossing it carelessly behind him. It clanged dully on the floor. "I'm impressed that you managed to escape. Clever, expanding the chains." He nodded at her scars. She covered her wrists almost subconsciously, stepping into the corner as he approached. "But you're not going to escape. I'd honestly rather have you dead than let you get away." He threatened, stalking closer and raising the gleaming blade over his head.

Fear seized her. "N-no, please-!"

"Oh, please, beg. It'll make this more fun..."

"No-stop!"

He was on top of her now, one arm pinning her to the wall, the other arm raised over her shaking body. Fight-run-she couldn't move at all.

"No-please-Nanuk-_please_!"

"Say goodbye,"

"_DAD!_" Wen closed her eyes and covered her face. There was a deep, heart stopping squelch. Warmth. It was so warm.

"You'll-never hurt-someone's little girl-_ever_ again,"

Wen opened her eyes. A second squelch rang through the room as Suki stuck her own blade through Yeh's eye, a third as Suki pulled herself off of the pearl dagger once stuck deep in her chest. Yeh's body slowly dropped to his knees, then fell sideways, blood pouring from his head. His legs gave a terrifying jerk and he sharply inhaled, choking on his own blood, "The Traders...will never die..."

Suki smirked, then grimaced, as she clutched her own wound. She was pale as a sheet. "Are...you okay?" She asked Wen, her warm brown eyes slowly chilling, glazing.

"...you're bleeding." Wen suddenly blurted, watching Suki slump back against the desk, a sliver of blood leaking from her lips. "You saved me."

Suki smirked, the effort causing her to cough up another spurt of blood and slip clumsily to the floor, falling into the growing pool of blood.

"Oh, Spirits-_Suki, what do I do_?" Wen suddenly asked, waking up and falling to her knees.

Suki shook her head and laid down in Wen's lap.

"No, Suki, _SUKI_!" She shouted, "Um...I..._talk to me_! Please, _help me_!" She begged, shaking her shoulders lightly. "Nanuk-he can help you-NANUK! _NANUK_!" She shouted, she could see his still unconscious body from under the desk, but no matter how loud she screamed, he didn't move. Her pants were wet with blood. Her face was wet with sudden, uncontrollable tears. "NANUK! PLEASE WAKE UP! SUKI DON'T DIE! YOU CAN'T!" Suddenly everything was so real and unreal. Suki closed her eyes. Wen was standing outside of the tea house. It was her birthday. Suki stopped breathing. Wen was staring into that old man's tired, warm, golden eyes...

It was over.


	12. Terrifying Love

The funeral was a quiet occasion. Kyoshi Island, usually bright and bursting with life, hung limply in the void left by Suki's death, trumpeted by a tired messenger hawk and a promise of quick arrival. The residents of Air Temple Island, casket in hand, arrived by boat the day of the procession. Widowed husband, Councilman Sokka, headed the parade, heaving his wife's lifeless body over his shoulder as though he were carrying the world. The Avatar, just behind him, and Ty Lee and Toph, just behind them, helped as much as he would allow. Though Nanuk offered to help, he and his still shaken partner were relegated to the very rear of the line. The Fire Lord was reportedly still too injured to attend.

The service began as the village elder stood before the assembly and gestured to the processional. They, without acknowledging him, gently laid the casket on the ground.

The elder began to speak. His voice was soft, but piercing, and moved with an ancient grace as he honored Suki's life, her perfections, her misgivings, her accomplishments, her failures. His quick, powerful tears let those unknowing on to his true identity, the relationship between him and the departed. But no one's cries were heard more sharply and with more devastation than those of the Coucilman's, those which he never dared to release. As the elder's voice swirled and tossed the listeners behind him, Sokka slowly lifted the lid of the casket. Suki's soft, cracked lips were slightly parted, her doey, hazel eyes shut to the sadness around her. Her two, perfect hands held her still heart. Sokka reached under her and lifted her into the air. Stepping around the casket, he placed her body high atop the funeral pyre, and, kissing her frozen lips softly, whispered one final goodbye.

"Your mother really was beautiful," Wen sighed with a light smile, bouncing little Ursa in her arms. The baby giggled. For nearly three months now Wen had been taking Ursa up and down the halls of the palace. Most times, she was the only one around to talk to, what with the Fire Lord being so busy and the recent security upgrades. With the heavy, personal blow to the Traders still being so recent, Zuko's advisors were always worried about sudden retaliation, though Wen sometimes thought she'd rather be attacked than be stuck one more day inside those walls.

Mai was painted before the pregnancy, her slender frame accentuated in the inks used to carve out her image. While all of these paintings exaggerated the intimidating and harsh sides of their subjects, Wen could still imagine the softness and warmth in Mai's piercing, black eyes. She looked down at baby Ursa, who yawned and snuggled into Wen's bosom, tugging at her white dress. Her eyes were brown. A mixture. Everything about her features blended what Wen saw in that painting, and what she saw in her father's tired, worried face.

"They were perfect for each other," Wen mused, almost sadly, turning away and walking back down the hall toward the east wing. Passing by several windows, she stopped once to stare out at the grounds. Snow lay packed on the earth, yet the sky was a bright blue and the sun shone radiantly. So disconnected.

"You ready for a nap?" Wen asked, stroking the baby's soft, rounded cheek with the pad of her thumb. Ursa blew tiny bubbles between her lips and giggled. Wen smiled. Good thing, too. The Fire Lord would be expecting her any moment.

Days at the palace were usually long and boring. An easy wakeup call was followed by a hair combing, foot scrubbing and a dressing that took almost an hour and a half combined. Breakfast was after, usually comprised of small, yet lavish dishes that in the winter featured many small birds who had traveled to the warmer climate to raise a family and were ever so suddenly thwarted. Then came studies. As usual, Wen excelled in maths and physics in particular, but her grammar was poor and learning new languages was next to an impossible feat. A short, late lunch was followed by an hour of free time which Wen usually spent exploring the halls with Ursa, daydreaming, staring at the portraits for minutes on end, and sometimes telling her half-sister far from age appropriate stories that she would never remember. In the early afternoon, the palace doors would be opened, and for three to five hours (depending on his mood) the Fire Lord and the Princess would listen to the complaints and suggestions of any citizen that wished to speak. These meetings were heavily controlled. Guards lined the throne room, were positioned at the front doors, and entered and exited with every visitor no matter their social, economic, or political standing. While this particular feature made Wen a little uncomfortable, she still considered it the best part of her day. While most came in to report problems or speak their unsatisfied minds, some came in with honest questions and even compliments. It was the only time when Wen really got to interact with the outside world, with all of its bad and good. After a long, drawn out dinner, usually with high standing guests, Wen retired to her room to paint or to read.

Not only was it the biggest room she'd ever slept in, but it alone was bigger than most apartments she'd ever inhabited. A large, four poster bed stood impressively on the center back wall. Sometimes, at night, after wrapping herself in the warm, downey blankets, she would roll over and over and count how many of her could fit in it all at once. In the left corner was a small seating area facing a large, western facing window. Just to the right was Wen's painting area. From there most of the room was empty space save for a large dresser and an impressive, gilded, full length mirror. That night, candles flickering throughout the room, as she was patiently adding tiny flecks of white to the round, green eyes of a wild cat, she heard a knock at her door.

"Come in!" She called.

The door opened and shut. "Pretty," her father commented, placing a firm, warm hand on her shoulder. He had just come from getting ready for bed. His long, black hair was loose and wet, staining his crimson robe just below the shoulders. Wen smiled, adding one more fleck before leaning back to look at her work. The little bobcat-Wen was thinking of naming him Ming-was jumping up, paws in the air, trying to catch a dragon beetle in its claws.

"I saw a cat like him out of the grounds the other day,"

Zuko sighed, "I wish I didn't have to keep you locked in here."

Wen looked up at him and smiled, "I know."

He smiled back-but sadly. "May I sit?" Zuko asked.

Wen nodded.

He pulled a flowery little arm chair from the small seating area and sat facing her, his brows furrowed. "Can I ask you something?"

She glanced over. Her fair skin looked darker against her white night gown though it was speckled with spots of all colors. When she smiled, a tiny fleck that had hopped on to the corner of her wide mouth cracked. "You know the deal,"

Zuko gave a tired chuckle. "...how are you?"

Wen's smile pursed.

"I know...it's been hard." He mustered.

"I'm fine, Dad."

"I just want you to be safe-"

"Dad, I know," she interrupted, a small bite in her voice. She went back to her painting.

"...your turn." He offered meekly.

"How's your leg?"

Zuko gave a pained sigh and drummed his fingers on the head of a cane held tightly in his grasp. His shin...it hadn't been a clean break. The bone was splintered and bent up through the skin. By the time Toph had noticed him lying under the rubble, it was infected. There wasn't much Katara could do. Three months later he was on the way to recovery, but at thirty nine he was still relying on the walking stick, and the pain-especially at night-could be immense.

"Better."

Wen added one more fleck of shine onto the left hind paw's claws and set her brush down. "Done," she mused quietly, leaning back to give it another good look.

"Wen..."

She exhaled.

"...I've been thinking a lot recently..."

She stood up with the painting and walked to the center of the room, trying to picture where would be the best place to hang it. "About what?" She asked innocently.

"About who will succeed me."

Wen froze, "...and?" She tested.

He stood up, shoving his hands deep into his pockets, "Well, I think you should have a voice in it."

"...?"

Zuko nodded.

"But, Ursa..."

Zuko walked over to face her, "Ursa is my first _legitimate_ child, yes, but legitimate or not you're my daughter, too. My daughter, who risked her life just to find out who I was."

The dagger, as always, was snuggled tight between Wen's hip and her sash. She flushed.

"You've proven yourself over and over again to be an intelligent, brave, and caring woman and legitimate or not you are more than capable of doing some incredible things in this nation. Some people won't be very open to it at first, I know, but I _know_ that you can handle it." He added earnestly.

Wen's mouth hung slightly open as she listened to all of this, but as she finished her lower jaw snapped up with a jarring click.

"You don't have to answer now-you shouldn't!-sleep on it." He tried, attempting to cheer her up.

She just nodded.

"Here…" He reached into the pocket of his robes and pulled from it a small, golden diadem. Its flame had two points that curved delicately around each other. "…go ahead." She took it from him slowly. "It's supposed to be worn by the heir. I know you haven't decided yet, but I think you should wear it, anyways." He tried. "Can I put it on for you?"

Wen nodded with a small smile and turned around. Placing the diadem over her bun, the pin slid in easily with a small click.

"Fire Lord!" Both of their heads snapped to attention. A young guard in full uniform stood at Wen's door, head bowed. "There's a woman outside the palace gates-she is demanding to see you."

Wen's ears perked up.

"Tell her to come back tomorrow." Zuko snapped.

"Fire Lord, sir, I don't know if this has any relevance, but-"

"FIRE LORD ZUKO!" Another guard burst through the door, and ripped his mask from his helmet, "A psychotic woman has gotten through the gates and into the palace." He yelled, dull brown eyes filled with fear, "I-I've never seen anything like it…we _must_ retreat to the underground bunker!"

Wen's eyes, shocked but not totally afraid, looked to her father for some kind of order, but he was suddenly stoic.

"Hisao..." Zuko began, his voice taking on that low, heart shaking rumble. "...I would like to hear what the woman has to say."

"B-but sir...!"

"If it's so important that she break into my home, I'd like to hear it."

Wen looked at Zuko, then the sweating guard, then back to Zuko, "Uh...me too!" She blurted, folding her arms tight across her chest.

"Bring her up here."

The two guards exchanged looks. "U-uh...right away...sir..." Hisao complied, both of them bowing once more before ducking out of the room.

"Um...should we sit?" Wen asked.

"She came back..."

"Huh?"

Suddenly, Zuko took her hand and squeezed it hard. His was soaked with sweat. "D-Dad? Are you-?"

"I'm fine." He said quickly, brushing his bangs back over his head and wiping his brow.

"You don't look fine." Wen said, matter-of-fact.

"Well, I am." He retorted quickly. "Just...don't let go."

In Zuko's mind, it took the guards at least a decade to bring the woman up to Wen's room. They burst through the door, two men holding either arm behind her back and four men surrounding her with palms retracted and ready to fire. She was struggling like mad, though the sandy colored cloak and long, black hair shrouded her face from view. Roughly, the guards pushed her down onto her knees, and kept her eyes on the Fire Lord's bare feet.

"I see that I came at a bad time!" She chuckled, grunting here and there as the guards held her firm.

"That's enough," Zuko ordered.

"But-she-!"

"Yes, I know. Now let her up."

The guards, incredulous, hesitantly did as they were told, and the woman clambered on to her feet.

"That's more like it!" She breathed, pulling the hood of her cloak down and gathering her somewhat bushy hair behind her head. She was a woman of average height-busty-with round hips, broad shoulders and tanned skin. She looked strong, healthy. Her face was round but wild with incredibly silver eyes and thin, pink lips that pulled back to reveal a sharp, blinding grin. Scars dotted every piece of visible skin, some narrow, and some terrifyingly thick. Her palms, for one, which Wen could only get a glimpse of, were mangled by the pinkish red wrinkles of a burn and the raised, crisscrossed, ribbed hatches of deep lacerations. "Glad to see someone has some sense about them." She sneered, giving Zuko a playful look.

"Leave us." Zuko ordered. This time, the guards didn't waste their breath arguing and stepped out obediently. "You, too," He added to Wen.

"Huh?" She asked, shocked.

"We'll just be a moment." He assured her, squeezing her hand and letting it go. Wen watched their hands separate...wondering if she should refuse, but let the last remaining guard escort her from the room. Before the door could close, however, she made her disappointment known.

The large white door closed with a sharp click.

"You can drop the act." Zuko said suddenly, severely.

"No, I can't." Katil nearly whispered, her wild eyes momentarily reverting to their (as of late) usually shy and docile temperament.

"You can't?" He asked, tightening his grip on his cane.

"You're hurt?"

"Why are you here?" He snapped, not exactly appreciating the attempted diversion.

She brushed a strand of black hair behind her ear and stepped forward. She fell to her knees.

"Katil...?"

"If you offer still stands," she began, her eyes pointed straight at his feet. She cleared her throat, "My name is Kazue, daughter of Guo, of the Ootsuchi village." She slowly raised her head. Red-rimmed silver met solid gold. "…and I have come to be your queen."

Wen's eyes shot open.

"Princess Wen, I'm not sure if you should be-"

Wen whipped around and put a finger to her lips. The guard who'd spoken deflated with an exasperated sigh as Wen put her ear back to the door. Suddenly the door handle clicked. Wen jumped back and stood at attention as the Fire Lord stepped gracefully from the room, the woman close behind.

"Have a room ready for the Lady within the hour."

Now Wen was really surprised. The guards hurried away to find the housemaids, and the woman, now suddenly looking sheepish, gave Zuko a tiny curtsy before walking off alone down the hall. Wen shivered. "Who...who was that?" Wen asked. Zuko turned to look at his daughter. His eyes were nearly spilling over. "D-Dad-?" His cane clacked against the tile floor as he wrapped his arms around her body and squeezed her tight. "D...Dad..." She whispered, nuzzling her face into his warm neck. He held her even tighter.

"I am the luckiest man...who's ever lived."

Breakfast the next morning was an interesting affair. The woman, made up and dressed in one of Wen's dresses, had a much more welcoming appearance, but Wen hardly noticed. The porridge she was currently attempting to consume was barely making it into her mouth she was focused so intently on watching the woman's every move. The woman, on the other hand, just smiled quietly, ate her breakfast, and occasionally made small talk despite the pervasive and unrelenting stares from the wait staff and of course the Princess.

"Do you ever get a break?" She asked innocently, batting her lashes cutely at the Fire Lord. Wen frowned.

"Occasionally," Zuko responded honestly, "but I try to keep busy. The Fire Nation...well, I'm sure you know."

She chuckled, "It's a pretty impossible goal, restoring our honor." She admitted, "But if anyone can do it, it's you."

Zuko smiled. Wen cocked an eyebrow.

"How would you know?" Wen asked.

Zuko frowned.

The woman glanced over, as if she hadn't noticed Wen's presence beforehand, and smiled, "I've been living in the Earth Kingdom-"

"So why are you here?"

"Well, I was born in the Fire Nation-"

"So why did you leave?"

"Wen." Zuko warned.

The woman just laughed. Wen furrowed her brow and took a large, angry swallow of porridge. She then choked slightly, giving the woman something to laugh at, and got even more irritated. A clock's chime rang through the dining hall. Zuko looked at Wen. She looked back at him. He frowned at her. She frowned back. Finally, after half a minute of this staring contest she suddenly stood up, scraping her chair noisily across the tile. "If you would excuse me, I have studies to attend." She announced with a cartoonish curtsy before skipping mockingly out of the room.

Katil looked sadly at Zuko. He reached across the table and squeezed her hand lightly.

"Maybe you should talk with her?" He suggested.

"Maybe..." She nearly whispered.

"We can't keep it from her forever."

"I know, it's just-"

"She'll love you—you just might have to give her some time." He promised with a kind smile. She nodded and stood up, smoothing out and readjusting the red robes she'd borrowed. Her much more voluminous chest was incessantly attempting to escape from the tight fitting top. Zuko quietly waved off the attendants in the room and slinked behind Katil, wrapping his arms around her body.

She froze, "Z-Zuko-"

He held her tightly and sensually kissed the base of her neck, running his palms down her arms until his fingers were laced with hers. She leaned back, sighing gently, as he turned her palms up to see. His heart broke.

"It's okay," Katil whispered, quickly pressing her hands back to her sides.

"No," he pulled away and stepped back to his chair where his caped chest plate was resting. He picked it up and slid it over his shoulders, "it's not." He turned to leave, but Katil caught him,

"Will I see you?" She asked, her tone suddenly desperate. Zuko turned to her with a sad smile and took her hand off of his arm before exiting swiftly. Katil watched him leave with a heavy lump in her throat. Why did she think this was going to be easy?

"She really was beautiful,"

Wen turned around. It was the woman. She turned back to Mai's portrait and rocked Ursa gently. "Yeah, she was," she murmured. The woman stepped up next to her.

"You know, I fought her once." This peaked Wen's interest. "I got my ass kicked, too." She admitted with a chuckle. "May I hold her?"

Wen hesitated for a moment, looked at Ursa's peaceful, dozing face, then unwillingly handed her over. Though she instinctively cringed, the wailing never came. "She looks just like her Daddy..." She nearly whispered. "So do you." The woman added with a knowing smile.

Wen frowned. "Who are you?" She asked pointedly.

The woman chuckled, stroking the baby's cheek.

"...you're the woman I saved that night on the ship."

No response.

"And the woman I bumped into that night on the plaza!"

The woman turned away slightly.

"…you're my mom…aren't you?"

Still silence.

"_Aren't you?_" She begged desperately. The woman's head popped up. Both of their eyes were slowly filling with tears.

"Y-yes," she stammered, their bodies seemingly gravitating towards each other. Wen fell hard into her mother's free arm and squeezed her tight. "Wen I...I'm so sorry...!" She sobbed. "I looked for you...I looked and looked, I swear...!"

Wen nodded into her mother's chest, little Ursa caught tight in between.

"I have so many questions…!" Wen sobbed.

Katil pulled away, laughing and wiping her eyes, "Honestly, me too,"

Wen smiled through her own happy tears, and nodded, letting Katil lace her fingers through hers and lead her back towards Ursa's room to lay the baby down for her nap.

That night, Katil opted for a different sleeping arrangement.

"We really-mmf-should talk-mmmmff-" Zuko tried, never breaking their passionate kiss for more than a second. Katil nodded vigorously, her hands working at his sash as he dove for her neck, pushed her towards his ornate four poster and slid her dress down past her shoulders all at once-

"Dad-?"

The two split apart just fast enough to catch the door slamming shut.

"Sorry!" Wen called from outside. Zuko, still breathing hard, patted himself down and rushed out of the door to find Wen leaning against the wall just to the left, her face bright red.

"Is something wrong?" He asked quickly. Wen looked up at her dad's flushed face and she blushed even more.

"I...wanted to ask Mom about these...!" She admitted holding up two dresses.

Zuko slapped his forehead hard.

"The blue one!" Katil called from inside the room.

"Duh! Oh-um..." she suddenly remembered where she was. "Carry on?"

Zuko scowled, stepping back into his room and slamming the door shut. He was about to be angry when he saw his fiancée leaning naked against the bed, her pale, curving frame glowing in the dim lamplight. She shrugged with a small grin, and he couldn't help but smile back.

As if the night before hadn't been enough of a hint, Wen hadn't been kidding when she said she had questions. She nipped at Katil's heels like a baby komodo wolf at all hours of the day-and many hours of the night-until finally Zuko made it very clear that all questions were to be saved for the day, not just so he could make love in peace but also just so he could get some decent sleep.

"So when's the wedding?" Wen asked excitedly one afternoon. She and her mother were painting together in front of Wen's large window. Wen was nearly finished with a landscape painting of the grounds outside. Katil was...well it was too abstract for Wen to really say, but it was pretty nonetheless!

"Soon," Kstil promised.

"Will it be big or small?"

"Big, I guess. Isn't that sort of expected?"

"You don't really seem like the do-what's-expected type."

"Haha, maybe you're right about that." Katil admitted, adding swipes of yellow onto her already jumbled canvas.

"...how did he ask?" Wen pondered dreamily, turning the blue sky before her into a pink, hazy sunset. "Was it romantic?"

Katil sighed, "Very,"

Wen looked at her expectantly, but her mother was just staring into the swirling void that she had created. "Well?!"

"Oh, sorry!" Katil laughed, snapping back to reality. "Well, I was in the infirmary on Air Temple Island-"

"Speaking of which, I was wondering-!"

"One question at a time!" Katil stopped her, exasperated. They both laughed. "Which do you want to hear first?"

Wen turned fully away from her painting, "The proposal!"

Katil beamed, "Alright. Well, like I said, I was still bed ridden in the infirmary. By this point, your father had found out I was there and was coming to see me regularly. He'd watch me sleep while I was still very sick, and as I got better we began to talk for hours every night. I told him what happened to me, and he told me what happened to Mai." She added sadly, "Anyways, we talked a lot about our history, and we talked a lot about you. He told me all about how you found him, about how you were getting tutored by your friend," (Wen's mouth curved) "and all about your fire bending training. He couldn't stop telling me about what a natural you were!" She said proudly, "And then, all of the sudden, one night he came to my bed and kissed me."

Wen gasped.

"He held my face and asked me to marry him, just like that. He said that he loved you and Ursa too much to keep you without a mother, and that he loved me too much to watch me leave again."

"What did you do?" Wen asked eagerly, nearly falling out of her chair.

Katil sighed, looking at her hands in her lap for a moment before answering in the same light hearted tone, "I left!" As though it were nothing, she turned back to her painting and dipped her brush into the orange paint, "Hmm...maybe I should just leave it...I really don't know when to quit…"

"You LEFT?!" Wen nearly yelled.

Katil gave her an apologetic shrug.

"Wh-_WHY_?!"

"I loved the both of you too much to disappoint you." She said meekly.

Wen deflated and then glanced at her mother's work. Despite the bright swirling colors on top, she could still see the haunting blacks and violets beneath. "So...why did you come back?"

Katil set her brush down, finally satisfied, and smiled at her daughter. "Even someone as silly as me can admit when they're wrong."

Katil was right: the wedding was huge. And soon. Only a month after her arrival teams of workers were arriving to set up day after day. It took over a week to get everything ready. It was held outside on the grounds just as the snow was melting and the flowers were beginning to bloom. A large, ornate white altar was constructed between two sprawling, white flowering trees, a white carpet leading the way through two large seating areas. Those not personally invited could watch from atop the palace walls and the hills just behind. Lit lamps sparkled even in the afternoon light, and Wen could see them dancing from her mother's dressing room as she helped her get ready. Katara, her belly protruding proudly from beneath her maternity robes, helped Wen dress her mother in a long, white, gilded gown and pull her hair into an ornate, beautiful headpiece. Katara pulled the veil over Katil's eyes, water spilling from her own. "Thank you, Katara," Katil whispered, looking deep into the water bender's dark blue eyes through the reflection of a large mirror. She turned to face her, gripping her forearms tight with trembling hands, "for everything."

Katara smiled, biting her lip to keep from crying as she hugged her friend tightly.

"I'm just glad you're here."

As Wen, carrying baby Ursa, headed the procession, she locked eyes with every one she could recognize: Aang, Toph, Ty Lee, the black smith and his wife, even! Though she was looking for him, she missed Sokka, who'd taken a seat at the very back. Climbing the stairs quickly she took her place at the left and scanned the audience once more, but caught no sign of the guest she was really hoping to see.

When Katil appeared, she was met with gasps and music, but to Wen everything was silent. She looked from her mother, to her father, dressed also in ornate, white robes, the top of his hair pulled back into a high bun, revealing his brilliant scar and his round, golden eyes, struck with as much wonder as Wen's were. This was it. This was the moment she had always been dreaming of. So why did it feel so incomplete?

Of course, the old man from the tea shop, the Dragon of the West, Zuko's Uncle, the wise man who'd started all of this in motion would be the man giving Katil away. She kissed him lovingly on the cheek, and turned to face her fiancée, tears already threatening to pour down her face. As the official began the ceremony, Zuko took Katil's hand in his and squeezed it tight. She inhaled and exhaled deeply. This was it.

"Now, as I am aware, you both have something you want to say?"

The couple nodded, and the official gave them the floor. They turned to one another.

"Katil," Zuko began, lacing his fingers through hers, "I've never been a very open...or, at least, eloquent, man." He admitted, the audience chuckling with him, "So bear with me as I try to express just how much I love you." Katil smiled, blushing and choking back tears, "As I was struggling to find just the right words to tell you, to find just the right words to explain all of the ways that you've shaped me and saved me, I realized that we've only spent four months together, and that, somehow, in just those four months, you gave me the greatest gift any man could ever get." He peered over her shoulder at Wen, who looked away, embarrassed but happy. "Recently, I lost my first wife, another woman that I loved very much. I was totally lost—I couldn't even take care of the daughter that I knew I had, but then Wen found me. She showed me that it was okay to love again, and so when I saw you…" he cleared his throat, "You are the bravest, most tenacious, and most wonderful woman I have ever met, and every time I look at you I can't help but fall in love with you again and again."

Katil's embarrassed giggles were drowned out by the roar of applause his words received.

"Lady Katil?" The official asked.

Katil cleared her throat and peered up at Zuko through her long, wet lashes, "Um, well..." She began, shaking, "I think we had the same person help us with our vows because mine are horrifically similar." She laughed, looking back at Wen, who grinned innocently. "So I'll make something up on the spot. When you asked me to marry you all four months ago, I was terrified. I ran away. I ran all of the way back to Ba Sing Se, hoping I could just...forget that you and Wen existed. For a while, it worked, but..." She glanced down at Uncle Iroh (who in his old age was gently dozing off in his chair) with a sheepish grin, "...I couldn't hide for very long. I've always been in love with you, Fire Lord Zuko. I'm just so grateful that you-and Wen-had the patience to let me realize that and took me back when I finally came home."

Zuko smiled and nodded through stinging eyes, running his hand through his love's hair and pulling her forehead to his.

"Are there any objections?" The official asked a silent audience, "Then, you may kiss the bride."

They merely tipped their heads and their lips joined, hearts beating together, skin throbbing with the heat and passion they shared. The audience cheered and Zuko pulled away to wave Wen over. She was unsure at first, but Katil reached over and grabbed her daughters and pulled them into her arms, Zuko squeezing them all as tight as he could muster, the locket a gentle presence deep in his pocket. "I love you three so much," Zuko whispered against the roar of the crowd.

"I love you, too, Dad," Wen replied. This was it.

The reception was lovely, of course. Held inside the large palace ball room, flags bearing the Fire Nation insignia and Royal Seal hung one after the other on all of the walls. On the floor, white and red flowers circled the room. A large band played dance music to every one's amusement. A crystal chandelier hung from the roof, making every one in attendance seem to sparkle. At the front of the room, Katil and Zuko sat snacking on small cookies and taking congratulations from whoever could push their way through the line. As for Wen, she couldn't stop eating the egg custard tarts Aang had brought, but was able to free herself after seeing Katara just a few heads away from the refreshment table. "Katara!" Wen called, wiping crumbs from her mouth as she pushed through the crowd.

The very pregnant healer turned around, "Wen!" She called back, beaming.

"Is Nanuk here?" She asked, cutting right to the point. Katara's face fell slightly.

"If he is, I haven't seen him." She answered honestly.

"Where else could he be?" Wen asked, her voice slowly gaining that characteristic interrogating tone.

"Honestly, I don't know." Katara shrugged, "After you left, he said he was going to look for work further north, and like that, he was gone!"

"Oh..."

"Don't worry, I'm sure he got an invitation, and there's no way he would miss this."

"Right..."

"I'm going to go see if I can grab a few more of those smoked sardines...cheer up!" She added before scooting past her. Wen huffed and moved on.

"Mmm…definitely the lemon," Katil agreed, taking another bite of the tiny cookie. They laughed.

"Fire Lord,"

Zuko looked up, then, with a little help from the cane, got up on to his feet. "Councilman,"

Both men stared at the other with stony, hard faces, their eyes boring holes into one another. Katil watched the exchange with a slightly worried expression, but, suddenly, Zuko held out his hand. Sokka looked at it for a moment, took it, and then pulled his friend into a tight embrace.

"I'm so sorry, Sokka." Zuko whispered in his ear.

"No, don't be." Sokka told him, pushing him away so he could see his face. His story eyes were tired, but most of all apologetic. Zuko's spoke a similar message and, silently, then reached an agreement, signing it with gentle smiles. Sokka looked down at Katil, "You're one lucky woman, you know that?" He joked, slapping Zuko hard on top of the shoulder and shaking him. Zuko winced.

Katil laughed, standing up to steady her husband. "Believe me, I know." The couple looked at each other with warm eyes, and Zuko wrapped an arm around her waist lovingly.

"Try not to have too much fun on your honeymoon-we all know what happened last time if ya know what I mean!"

"...thanks,"

"Oh, lighten up!" Sokka chided.

"I think your date's in need of your assistance," Katil chuckled, pointing down to a very frustrated Toph who was currently being pin-balled through the tight crowd.

"You might be right!" Sokka laughed back. "I wish you two nothing but the best." He added, giving both a traditional goodbye before running back into the crowd.

One by one the guests paid their respects and maybe an hour or so past midnight they slowly began loading into their primitive automobiles and drove away, leaving Zuko, Katil, Wen and their house guests all to themselves.

"THREE CHEERS FOR THE HAPPY COUPLE!" Toph yelled, downing the rest of her wine and falling back clumsily into her chair.

"THREE CHEERS!" They all shouted, drunk or not. Though Katara was sidelined due to extreme pregnancy, Sokka was able to convince her doting husband to at least have a little fun, which had quickly turned into a lot of fun, and now they were both shirtless and reenacting the epic defeat of Fire Lord Ozai in super slow motion while Toph provided sound effects (that, while supposedly dramatic, sounded more like the mating calls of elephant whales). Both a little tipsy, Zuko and Katil sat entwined on the couch of the intimate little tea room, kissing and laughing as Aang poked Sokka repeatedly in the forehead with his two fore fingers.

"STOP!" Sokka suddenly shouted. Every one froze. "I thought...of the GREATEST GAME!" He announced. Everyone exchanged looks as he ran off and returned with a stack of paper, ink, and a metal spoon. When he was done setting up, five columns of five colors were laid out on the floor, and he placed a rudimentary spinner on the table. "I call it, BENDER!"

"So you don't get to play."

"Shut up, Toph. Katara, you're going first, because I think this pregnant would be hilarious."

She smacked him hard on the back of the head. "I think not."

"Ow...party-pooper."

"I'll take you on." Zuko announced, literally peeling himself away from his new wife.

"Alriiiiiiight ZUZU! Okay, so here's how it works...Toph, spin the spoon. What'd it land on? Oh, right-WHATEVER! Aang, you read!"

Katil laughed, watching them twist their bodies around each other's until they all collapsed in an angry, competitive heap.

"My turn, my turn!" Toph yelled.

"You can't see the colors!"

"WELL YOU BETTER FUCKING TELL ME WHERE THEY ARE, THEN!"

"Right hand red!"

"Hey, no bending, that's cheating!"

"Well the game IS called BENDER!"

"I should consider changing that..."

"Be right back!" Katil chuckled, stepping out of the room. Boy, did she have to pee. Spirits, where are the bathrooms in this wing again...? Damnit...

Suddenly, she thought she heard a small whimper and followed the sound. It was coming from Wen's room. Katil knocked carefully.

"Wen?"

Wen wiped her eyes hurriedly and stashed the gold bracelet back into its tiny lockbox. "Oh, hey, Mom." She said quickly.

"Are you sure you don't want to come party with your parents? Sokka just made up this hilarious game..."

"No, that's okay..." She sniffed, "You guys have fun."

Katil, a sudden sobriety washing over her, stepped into the room, "Is everything okay?"

"Yeah..."

Katil sat next to her daughter on the bed, "Are you sure?"

Wen bit her lip for a moment and looked away, white knuckling the small wooden box in her hands, "Why did you come back?" She asked firmly.

Katil laughed, "I already told you-"

"No, really," Wen demanded, looking her mother square in the eye.

Katil froze, then suddenly relaxed and a small, content smile appeared on her face. She wiped a stray tear from Wen's cheek gently with the pad of her thumb, "When I was in that infirmary...Katara told me that you looked just like me...but not these eyes." She mused gently. "I came back, Wen, because no matter how hard I tried to forget you and your father, I just couldn't. Love is like that. No matter how hard you try to make it go away, real love, scary, terrifying love...if there's someone out there that you really care about, no person, no happening, no force will keep you apart for very long." She kissed her daughter lightly on the forehead, "I love you, Wen."

Suddenly Wen threw her arms around her mother...this mother she'd spent her whole life trying to find, this family she'd wished for for so long! "I love you, too, Mom." She sobbed. "I love you so much!"

The next morning, Katil woke up in Zuko's bare arms, a dreamy smile on her lips. Rolling over she kissed him softly. His lips were so warm, so inviting. He stirred slightly, yawning cutely into consciousness. "Good morning," Katil whispered.

"Mhmm..." He mumbled, pulling her to him and burying his face in her breasts,

"Aah come on, get up, we're going to be late for our ship if we don't get up now!" She reminded him.

Though he grumbled in protest, he rolled away and sat up, scratching his head. "Damn my head hurts," he complained. Katil just rolled her eyes and slipped out of bed to get dressed.

Around an hour later Katil stood at the door of their room, clothed in a comfortable red silk dress, "Take these down to the car for me?" She asked a housemaid, pointing to a number of leather bags. The man nodded with a smile and she thanked him kindly. Peeking back into the room she called to her husband, "I'm going to go check on Wen!"

"Okay!" Zuko called back.

Wen's room was only a short walk away, one right turn and there... "Wen?" Katil asked, knocking first. No response. "Wen?" She asked again quietly as she slowly opened the large door. The room looked ransacked. The dresser had all of its drawers torn out (though most of the clothes were still on the floor, the remainder of Wen's paint set was splayed haphazardly on the ground like a crime scene, and every bar of soap in the bathroom had been stolen. The only thing left untouched was the bed, and on it laid Wen's diadem and a note:

"_P.S.: Sorry for the mess. I thought it added to the dramatic effect._"

"LAST CALL!" Nanuk yelled from the rickety desk at the end of the pier, dressed in nothing more than a baggy pair of pants, some sandals, and a sweat-stained wife beater. It was the last day of recruitment at the Shenzheng docks, and he'd gotten a decent number of signatures by this point and really needed only a few more to complete a real crew. Still, he sighed, pushing his thick brown, beaded dreds behind his head, the sun beating down on the back of his dark neck. He wasn't getting much sleep lately, to say the least. After buying his first ship, money was getting tight and the tuna shark fishing season was coming up so quickly and...and...

A beefy man with a greasy mustache stepped up to the desk.

"Skills?" Nanuk asked, his voice exhausted and rough.

"Knot tying, rigging, navigation."

What even was that accent?

"You and the other riggers will split thirty percent."

"Deal."

They shook on it. Well, that's all the riggers, at least. Now-Nanuk looked up, a tall wiry boy with short, spiky black hair wearing a cap two sizes too big for him stepped up to the desk. "I'm here for a job, sailor-captain-sir!" He announced, saluting.

"You're serious."

The boy nodded vigorously.

Nanuk sighed, resting his head in his head. "Alright, let's get this over with. Skills?"

"I can uh...I can firebend! And I can swim!"

"Don't lie." Nanuk laughed, standing up and walking around the desk.

"Wh-what do you mean?" The boy laughed nervously.

"Also, since you obviously don't know, it's not illegal for women to be sailors."

"Uh...uh...I'm not a girl! What are you talking about! This guy's crazy!"

Nanuk folded his arms, "One, you definitely don't sound like a guy, and two, most guys do not have breasts." He pointed out, leading Wen to instinctively cover her chest. Nanuk smirked, reaching up to slowly pull the cap off of her head, "Most guys I know also wouldn't carry around old, _valuable_ daggers in plain sight, wear a gold bracelet even if I bought one for them, or drastically alter their appearance just to get a piss poor paying job. Most guys." He reminded. "I like the short hair, by the way. It's cute."

She shrugged somewhat innocently, "Heh heh?" She tried, sheepishly.

"What are you doing here, Wen?" He asked in almost a laugh.

Wen beamed, "Well, I love you! Isn't that obvious?"

For some reason, that stopped him. "I..." he blubbered, "I love you, too!" He exclaimed, taking her face in his hands and pulling her lips up to crash into his. She wrapped her arms around his neck as the sailors around them hooted and hollered.

"Hey, if _she's_ going on _his_ boat then I am, too!"

"Me, too!"

Wen and Nanuk pulled apart, laughing, tears in their eyes, but, unwilling to part just yet, Nanuk pressed his forehead to hers, "I thought I might never see you again..." He admitted, "Wen..."

"Nanuk...!"

Katil flipped the note over: "_No person, no happening, no force. Your daughter, Wen._"

"You ready, hun?" Zuko called from the hallway. Katil left the note where she'd found it and quickly left the room, shutting the door quietly behind her as Zuko rounded the corner, "Is she-?"

"She's asleep!" Katil whispered, putting a finger to her lips.

Zuko rolled his eyes, "Well, then, come on or we're gonna be late!"

Now it was Katil's turn to roll her eyes, "Oh, Zuko...!"

Hearing this he grabbed her arm and pulled her to him, "Oh, what?" He asked with a crooked grin.

"I love you."

"I love you."

"I love you."

"_I love you._"

**THE END**


End file.
